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THE 



CONYICT SHIP, 



A NARRATIVE OF THE RESULTS OF SCRIPTURAL 
INSTRUCTION AND MORAL DISCIPLINE ON 



BY 

COLIN ARKOTT BROWNING, M. D., 

SURGEON, ROYAL NAVY. 

jFvom t&e jFoiutl) SEnjjlfsf) ISXtttUn. 

WITH A PREFACE 

BY THE REV. JAMES H. FOWLES, 

RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE EPIPHANY, 
PHILADELPHIA. 



" My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." — Hosea iv. 6. 
"The gospel of Christ ... is the power of God un'o salvation to every one 
that belie veth " — Rom. i. 16. 
" It is the Spirit that quickeneth."— John vi. 63. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

LINDSAY & BLAKISTON. 

1850. 






The Library 

OF CONGl- 



WASHINGTON 



Entered, according to the act of Congress, in the year 1850, by 
Lindsay & Blakistox, in the clerk's office of the District Court 
of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



w. s. young, printer. 



PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 



This little volume will fill the heart of every 
benevolent reader with wonder and gratitude. Its 
author is an intelligent, pious and zealous Surgeon of 
the Royal Navy — who was placed in charge of some 
two or three hundred English convicts, during their 
transportation, on board the Earl Grey, to the penal 
colony of Van Diemen's Land. His work consists 
of a narrative, told in a perspicuous and interesting 
style, of a successful attempt to elevate these un- 
promising subjects out of that state of ignorance and 
sin in which they were found. The means employed 
were simple, yet enlightened, self-denying and kind ; 
and their results are of a character so encouraging, 
that they will scarcely be anticipated by the believer, 
and cannot be understood by the infideL At their 
debarkation, nearly all the prisoners could read the 
Word of God, and upwards of one hundred gave 
hopeful evidence of a change of heart. Nor were 
these hopes unfounded. In the Appendix, which 



IV PREFACE TO THE AMER CAN EDITION. 

consists of extracts from another production* of the 
same pen, in relation to this and similar voyages, will 
be found satisfactory proofs of the permanent and 
saving nature of that work of grace, which was 
begun on ship-board. The Comforter would indeed 
seem to have hovered over this vessel, as she pursued 
her long and trackless way upon the bosom of the 
deep, and to have imparted to a large portion of her 
refuse freight His richest blessings. 

Dr. Browning's account of such unprecedented 
success among these outcasts has been very popular 
and effective in his own country; and it was thought 
that the republication of its Fourth English Edition 
here might serve many useful purposes. 

Among other good ends, it may obviously con- 
tribute to such as these: — 

The revival of a general confidence in the power 
of the simple Gospel, when accompanied by the Spirit 
of God, to renew and save the most abandoned and 
profane. 

Is not our author's example, likewise, worthy of 
being held up for imitation before a Laodicean 
Church ? His direct and zealous efforts for the glory 
of Christ, in the salvation of souls — his unmixed re- 
liance upon the only appointed and effectual means, 

* England's Exilea 



PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. V 

as they are recorded here with all singleness of mind, 
portray an instance of faith and love, which is but 
too rare in these days. 

What valuable aid, also, may this volume afford to 
the pious visiters of our Penitentiaries, and Houses of 
Refuge ! Such self-denying labourers will not only 
be encouraged by this narrative, but derive from it 
important suggestions in the prosecution of their 
work. 

Place this book, moreover, in every convict's cell — 
and it will show that it is admirably fitted to inspire 
the wretched inmate with the best desires and hopes, 
and to point out to him a feasible, and tried, way of 
escape from the miseries in which he is involved. 

On board of our immigrant ships, too, with such a 
modification as the circumstances would suggest to 
any pious officer, or influential Christian passenger, 
the system of doing good, which is here described, 
might in its main features be wisely introduced. 

In short, there is scarcely any department of evan- 
gelical effort, that might not receive an impulse from 
what is recorded in these pages. There is no son or 
daughter of Adam, who may not be personally in- 
structed, and profited by that work of God which is 
here disclosed. For the same change which these 
convicts experienced, must be wrought upon every 



VI PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 

fallen man, or he can never see the kingdom of 
heaven.* Except all repent, they shall likewise 
perish.f Unless all be washed in the blood of that 
Lamb, which was slain before the foundation of the 
world,J their sin cannot be taken away.§ It was in 
accordance with these Scriptural allusions, that a 
poet,|| whose character was as unexceptionable as 
that of any reader of these lines, sung — 

"The dying thief rejoiced to see 
That fountain in his day; 
And there may I, tho' vile as he, 
Wash all my guilt away." 

And the London Christian Observer, in a favourable 
review of our work, IT has well remarked : " Human 
nature, whether in towns or villages, in courts or 
cottages, in hospitals or prisons, in ships or camps, 
afloat or on shore, is essentially the same; corrupted 
by the same fall; needing the same remedy; and open 
by divine grace to the same blessed influences." 

Philadelphia, February 1st., 1850. 

* John iii. 3. t Luke xiii. 1—5. } I Peter i. 18—20. 

§ John L 29. || Cowper. IF April, 1847. 



PREFACE. 



When, in the year 1831, on being appointed to 
the Surry, the duties and responsibilities involved in 
the surgeon-superintendency of a convict ship, were, 
for the first time, imposed upon me, my inexperience 
of the nature of the service, and of the details of its 
duties, caused me no small degree of anxiety. I had, 
it is true, a copy of the printed official instructions ; 
which gave a general view of my duties, but which 
supplied me with nothing like a scheme of education 
and discipline, and necessarily left the minutiae, of 
duty to my discretion. 

Much of the time occupied by my first voyage, was 
expended in observation and experiment, and was 
therefore in some measure lost as to the moral im- 
provement and instruction of the prisoners. 

I entesed on my second charge, in 1834, in the ship 
Arab, prepared with a system of instruction and 
government, the result of my experience, and to 
which some additions suggested themselves, during 
our progress to the Colonies. As my third voyage, 
in the Elphinstone, advanced, my plan received still 
farther improvements ; and in this matured state it is 
now exhibited. Its fitness for the management of 



Vlll PREFACE. 

female convicts was ascertained in the year 1840 ; 
when (having in the mean time served in a ship-of- 
war) I accomplished, in the ship Margaret, my fourth 
voyage. 

The narrative of the " Convict Ship" depicts the 
happy results of this system in operation among 264 
convicts, in my fifth voyage, on board the Earl Grey; 
and a still more abundant blessing attended my sixth 
and seventh voyages, in the Theresa and the Peston- 
jee Bomonjce. 

My chief object in first publishing this volume, was 
the hope that it might supply some useful hints to 
officers engaging in the service to which it refers. 

Several individuals, experienced in the Christian 
instruction of the neglected masses of our population, 
consider this system calculated to be useful, not only 
in convict ships, but, with suitable modifications, in 
emigrant ships, as well as in our country prisons and 
houses of correction: perhaps also in large manu- 
factories. 

We hear much in our days of the separate, solitary, 
and silent systems of prison discipline ; but unless the 
Christian system be brought to bear, with Divine 
power, on the understandings and consciences^ crimi- 
nals, every other system professedly contemplating 
their reformation, must, to the disappointment and con- 
fusion of its projectors, prove an utter failure. If we 
would see efficient moral discipline prevail in our pri- 
sons, penitentiaries, and convict hulks, we must pro- 
vide for the effectual instruction of their inmates in 
the o-reat facts and doctrines of Christianity; and must 



PREFACE. IX 

take care, that not only those intrusted with their re- 
ligious instruction, but all who are connected with 
their management, from the governor down to the 
humblest warder, be spiritual and consistent Christians, 
fitted by their temper and general demeanour to com- 
mend the gospel of Christ to all around them. 

We willingly concede to various systems of prison 
discipline their just measure of importance; but to 
expect that human machinery, however perfect, can 
take the place of God's own prescribed method of 
reformation, involves not only ignorant presumption, 
but practical infidelity. 

To all who are intrusted with the education or 
government of human beings, in any rank or condition 
of life, — at sea or on shore; in the army, navy, 
or in civil life; in schools or private families, — the 
narrative contained in this volume may afford matter 
of interest, stirring them up to fervent prayer, and un- 
wearied exertion in the work of scriptural instruction 
and Christian discipline, seeing that their labour shall 
not be in vain in the Lord ; while the boundless riches 
of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, here displayed 
towards degraded criminals, may encourage sinners of 
every class to delay not, but hasten their flight to the 
one and only Refuge for the guilty, the defenceless 
and the lost. 

It may be worthy of remark, that, on a review and 
comparison of my seven voyages, I find the amount 
of reformation amongst the convicts strikingly to cor- 
respond with the degree of diligence and zeal with 
which the gospel, in its divine simplicity, was brought 



X PREFACE. 

to bear, from the hour of embarkation, upon their un- 
derstandings, consciences, and hearts. During the 
first voyage, there was less of Christian instruction, 
and much less apparent improvement : on one occasion 
I was induced to yield to the judgment of the officer 
of the guard and master of the ship, and sanction the 
infliction of corporal punishment upon three convicts, 
w T hich, how clearly soever deserved, I have ever re- 
garded as unwise and impolitic, and as casting a stig- 
ma upon the management of my first charge. As ex- 
perience grew, and practical Christianity was from the 
beginning relied upon, punishments of any kind be- 
came less and less called for; and during my last two 
voyages, not only were no lashes inflicted, but not an 
iron was used, nor a convict placed under a sentry. 

To the honour of the blessed Saviour, who "hath 
done such great things for us," is this small and feeble 
work humbly and devoutly dedicated. May He for- 
give all that is man's, and abundantly bless all that is 
His own; and to the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost, the one only true God, be ascribed all glory, 
and honour, thanksgiving, dominion, and praise, now 
and evermore, world without end. Amen. 

Bloomsbury-place, Brighton, 
November \st, 1848. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

Page. 
Inspection and embarkation of the prisoners — Their moral 
position — Scriptural instruction the means of refor- 
mation 25 

CHAPTER II. 

State of the prisoners' education — Formation of schools — 
Subject-matter of instruction — The impressive position 
occupied both by the prisoners and the naval officer set 
over them 33 

CHAPTER III. 

Gratifying behaviour of the prisoners — Conversion to God 
the only foundation of true reformation — Some mani- 
festations of spiritual change — A thunder-storm; its 
influence on the prisoners — Several profess faith in 
Christ — George Day — John Williams — A Socialist . 49 

CHAPTER IV. 

Account of W. B. — Special prayer — Converts increase — 

F. M.-J. S 80 



Xll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

Page. 

More earnest prayer for the promised gift of the Holy 
Spirit— Hospital patients, J. H., W. C, T. G., and 
John Walker— Written statements from James B., 
Robert T., R. R k 166 

CHAPTER VI. 

All Christians required to promote the knowledge of Christ 
— Reformed prisoners employed on this principle — 
Prayer and zealous labour to be conjoined— Death of 
Edward Marlow — Christmas Day — The Author receives 
a poisoned wound — Superior behaviour of the prisoners 
—Letters of J. W n, T. C y, and John M'D. . 131 

CHAPTER VII. 

Death of Abraham Button — Brief account of A. J., J. H., 
A. D., J. J., and others — Extracts from Journal con- 
tinued—Resolution adopted by prisoners — Meetings for 
social prayer — Arrival at Hobart Town — Prisoners' 
address to the surgeon-superintendent— Number of 
apparent con versions— Farewell Address — Debarkation 
— A prisoner's letter 155 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Concluding statements— Summary of apparent good accom- 
plished — Extract from a prisoner's letter, after he had 
been some time in the colony . . . . .181 

APPENDIX . . . .199 

General outline of Scriptural instruction .... 227 

Colonial Testimonies — concerning convicts by the "Earl 

Grey" and former ships ...... 259 



THE CONVICT SHIP 



CHAPTER I. 

Inspection and Embarkation of the Prisoners— Their moral Position— 
Scriptural Instruction the Means of Reformation. 

At Brighton, Sept. 3d, 1842, I had the honour to 
receive a letter, "on H. M. Service," from Sir John 
Barrow, Bart., Secretary to the Admiralty, acquaint- 
ing me with my appointment as surgeon-superinten- 
dent on board the ship Earl Grey, destined to embark 
male convicts for the penal colony of Van Diemen's 
Land. 

I instantly set about making the best possible pro- 
vision for the education and instruction of the prisoners 
during the voyage, in addition to the religious books 
supplied by Government, by the aid of kind Christian 
friends and benevolent societies. On the 13th I re- 
ceived my instructions, joined my ship at Deptford, 
and directed the necessary preliminary arrangements 
for the approaching embarkation- On Saturday, the 
17th, the ship dropped down to Woolwich; and on 
Monday, the 19th, ninety prisoners were inspected 
and embarked from the Warrior hulk, and ninety-four 



26 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

from the Justitia. The day following we sailed for 
Plymouth Sound, where we arrived on the 2oth ; and 
on the 26th, eighty prisoners were inspected and em- 
barked from the hulk Stirling Castle : completing the 
number for whom accommodation had been prepared, 
namely, two hundred and sixty-four men. 

The system of management which I had found, 
under the blessing of God, successful in five preceding 
voyages with convicts, I pursued from the first mo- 
ment of entering upon my present charge. 

Addresses were delivered to the prisoners after in- 
spection, in the hulks,* which were listened to with 
breathless attention, — the men seemed to be brought 
at once under the moral influence of the system of 
management then referred to, and of the encouraging 
hope set before them : a hope calculated to generate 
moral life, to rescue from the chilling and destructive 
influence of despair, and to invigorate and prepare the 
mind for future usefulness and enjoyment. 

The embarkation from the hulks took place exactly 
in the style I wished; with the solitary exception of 
one of the prisoners from the Justitia having been al- 
lowed by the petty officer in charge, to play his vio- 
lin until the boat came within hail of my voice from 
the Earl Grey, w T hen the ill-timed music was instant- 
ly stopped. Such a practice appeared to me to be 
highly indecorous, wholly at variance with the posi- 
tion of the prisoners, and of injurious influence, not 
only on them, but on all observers on shore, — espe- 

*See Appendix. 



FIRST ADDRESS IN THE "EARL GREY. Zl 

cially that class of persons to which convicts belong. 
This incident became a subject of seasonable instruc- 
tion, not only to the prisoners, but to the petty officer, 
who acknowledged on the quarter-deck that the fault 
was wholly chargeable on him, as he had desired the 
prisoner thus to act. Such embarkations as these, it 
is almost unnecessary to observe, ought ever to be 
conducted with the greatest possible solemnity. 

The prisoners having been received on board, duly 
arranged, and disposed of in their respective berths, 
they were assembled on the quarter-deck and received 
their first address in the Earl Grey* 

But before we proceed farther with our narrative, 
it will be profitable to pause a little, and consider who 
they are that are thus assembled on the quarter-deck of 
a transport. Every one of these men is in possession 
of a spirit of immense value — a spirit on which He 
alone who called it into being can set the fair, the 
proper price : that price which He himself paid to re- 
deem it from sin, pollution, and death, unto pardon, 
holiness, and life. 

Let it also be remembered that these men, with 
very limited exceptions, are the victims of the darkest 
ignorance of Scripture truth:; and although it would 
be unkind and destructive to the prisoner himself to 
palliate crime, and we are ever to regard all manner 
of sin, either in ourselves or others, with the most 
perfect abhorrence, — yet are we to look upon the 
transgressor with Christian pity and the tenderest 

* See Appendix. 



28 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



compassion, to recollect who it is that maketfa vis to 
differ, (wherein we do indeed differ!) and to bear in 
mind, that no man acquainted with the depths of de- 
ceitfulness in his own heart, as discovered in the light 
of God's word and Spirit, will take up the stone to 
throw at the convict. The man who, in the presence 
of the holy Lord God, can say to the prisoner, "Stand 
by thyself; I am holier than thou," gives but fearful 
demonstration of his own moral distance from God, 
and would probably be nearer the truth, were he to 
regard himself as more guilty and polluted in the sight 
of the Searcher of hearts, than the self-degraded and 
despised convict. 

These prisoners assembled on the quarter-deck of 
the Earl Grey, have not only, however, in common 
with all men, violated the law of God, but they have 
despised and trampled upon the laws of their country, 
stained themselves with crimes committed against 
society and the state; rendered themselves a burden 
and a curse to those to whom they were bound to 
prove a help and a blessing, — and, notwithstanding 
all the untoward circumstances that may mark their 
lot in the world, some of them have heard the calls of 
the gospel and neglected the great salvation, while 
all have more or less resisted the light of reason and 
conscience. They are all, nevertheless, the "prison- 
ers of hope." They form a portion of that family 
whom Christ came to redeem by his blood; for he 
came to seek and to save the lost; not to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repentance. The gospel of 
the grace of God reaches to them all, and is able to 



THE MORAL POSITION OF THE PRISONERS, 29 

meet and to relieve the worst case which may be 
found amongst them. 

It is only the spiritual knowledge ^©f a crucified 
Redeemer that can inspire these men with hope, and 
make them worthy of our confidence, and safe and 
useful members of the community. "It is ,\i vain, 5 * 
observes a distinguished servant of Christ, "to pluck 
the leaves off a tree ; they will grow again : lay the 
axe to the root, and the leaves will ail fall off, and 
will appear no more." Grappling with particular 
sins and vices merely, cannot warrantably be expected 
to produce any radical improvement of Ik art or re- 
formation of life. To deal faithfully and effectually 
with men, we must begin where God in his word be- 
gins with them. We must clearly and impressively 
set before them their apostaey and depravity ; their 
ignorance and utter helplessness; their need of a Divine 
and justifying righteousness, and the sprinkling of the 
blood of atonement. We must urge on their conside- 
ration the necessity of a change of heart, and the in- 
dwelling of the Holy Spirit,, to produce in them, 
through the knowledge of Christ, that godly sorrow 
for sin which worketh repentance not to be repented 
of; to lead them into all Divine truth ; to subdue their 
iniquities; and to cause them to love the Lord their 
God with all their heart, and soul, and strength, and 
mind, and their neighbour as themselves. 

Accordingly, our first and grand object is to set be- 
fore these men the inspired Scriptures. The voice 
which they require to hear is the voice of God the 
Spirit, speaking to their consciences and hearts from 
.3* 



30 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

his word, convincing them of sin, of righteous- 
ness, and of judgment to come, — causing them to 
feel their guilt, to apprehend its deservings in the ago- 
nies of the worm that never dies; and giving them to 
perceive and feel the everlasting love of God manifest- 
ed in the gift of his Son, that " whosoever believeth 
in him might not perish, but have eternal life." The 
outpouring upon them of that Spirit of promise is to 
be sought by believing, earnest, and persevering 
prayer. We must not be contented with moving on 
the surface. We must not be satisfied with attacking 
Satan's out-works. We must boldly, fearlessly, and 
in the spirit of the meek and lowly Jesus, assault the 
citadel. Thither must Divine truth be carried and 
immovably lodged by the Spirit of truth, the Lord of 
hosts; thence, by his almighty power, must the prince 
of darkness, with all that is unholy, be driven, and 
there must the Lord Jesus be enthroned. 

Do these prisoners now, like the Jews of old, ask, 
" What shall we do that we might work the works of 
God?" * To that question the great Prophet of the 
church himself replies, " This is the work of God, that 
ye believe on Him whom he hath sent." f To believe 
on Christ is " the work of God;" not only because 
the faith that unites to Him, unto present and everlast- 
ing salvation, is the work of the Holy Spirit, but be- 
cause it is the beginning of all holy and acceptable 
obedience. Until we receive Jesus, we are in a state 
of rebellion, — dead in trespasses and sins, — living not 

* John vi. 28, 29. t [bid. 



THE MEANS OF REFORMATION. 31 

only in habitual violation of the Divine law, but in 
the act of rejecting the Son of God, the only Saviour 
from sin and wrath, resisting the Holy Spirit, and 
putting away from us that perfect salvation which 
Jesus accomplished, and is ever, in His Word, urging 
upon our immediate, thankful and cheerful reception. 
Without faith in Christ it is impossible to please God ; 
and it is by faith in Christ Jesus that we become His 
children,* and are enabled to render Him acceptable 
service. Coercion, and even punishment, may, through 
the sinful neglect and rejection of the gospel, become 
necessary to restrain the evil passions and arrest the 
lawless and destructive career of man ; but it is not 
by such means, or by any apparatus of man's construc- 
tion, physical or moral, that the heart can be brought 
back to God, or men be qualified for fulfilling the 
offices of social life. God has shown us in His writ- 
ten word what is necessary to accomplish these great 
and paramount objects : and let us beware of presump- 
tuously attempting to accomplish any one of them by 
other means than those of Divine appointment. 

The period allotted to the voyage to the penal colo- 
nies, when rightly improved, is most favourable, under 
the Divine blessing, to the reformation of the guilty, 
and their recovery to God and to happiness ; therefore 
the instruction and discipline of the people, according 
to the Scriptures, in the exercise of fervent and believ- 
ing prayer, is to begin with their embarkation, and to 
be continued during the whole of the passage. Should 

*Heb.xi. 6; Gal. iii. 26. 



32 THE CONVTCT SHIP. 

I, as the officer intrusted by Government with the "en- 
tire management " of these men — in opposition to my 
instructions from the admiralty, neglect thus to im- 
prove this opportunity, with a view to their reforma- 
tion and happiness, I should prove myself unworthy 
of the confidence reposed in me, and inflict a great in- 
jury on soulsj and therefore upon my country. 



STATE OF PRISONERS' EDUCATION. 33 



CHAPTER II. 

State of prisoners' education — Formation of schools— Subject-matter of 
instruction — The impressive position occupied both by the prisoners 
and the naval officer set over them. 

On the day immediately following that of their em- 
barkation, the prisoners were assembled again on 
the quarter-deck to receive their second Address;* 
and various preliminary and necessary arrangements 
having been made, we forthwith proceeded with our 
system of organization. 

The earliest opportunity was embraced to ascertain, 
by a close and personal examination, how the people 
stood as to their ability to read and write; and the 
following is the result : 

Read and write, 53 ; read only, 23 ; read a little, 
65 ; know their letters, 45 ; ignorant even of the al- 
phabet, 77. 

Therefore, in a very limited sense of the expression, 
there were found — educated, 76; uneducated, 187. 

The prisoners w 7 ere now formed into twenty-four 
schools; the two highest of which consisted of those 
who could read and write ; the third, of those who 
could read only; six, of such as could read a little; 
five, of those who knew their alphabet; and ten, of 
such as did not know their letters. 

* Appendix. 



34 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



The schools having been fully organized, and teach- 
ers and inspector appointed, the whole of the prisoners 
were assembled on the quarter-deck ; the inspector and 
schoolmasters were drawn up in lines, and placed be- 
fore their pupils, when they w 7 ere all addressed with 
reference to the new and interesting relations in which 
they now stood to each other as teachers and pupils. 

Nothing could be more deeply interesting than 
the appearance which our decks now presented, 
above and below, — all was order, life, and activity. 
The hum of twenty-four schools, containing 263 pupils, 
from seventeen to fifty-eight years of age, had an ef- 
fect upon my ear far surpassing that of the finest 
music. Wherever a school could be conveniently as- 
sembled, there the busy group were to be seen sur- 
rounding their teacher, eagerly vying which each other 
in application and zeal. There was of course great 
diversity of aptitude, both in communicating and re- 
ceiving instruction ; but almost every countenance be- 
trayed thought fulness and attention, and was soon 
lighted up with more or less of hopeful animation. 
The diligence and zeal with which the prisoners in 
the Earl Grey set about the acquisition of useful 
knowledge, as well as the ability to read, exceeded any 
thing of the kind I have ever witnessed. 

"While learning to read, they were at the same time, 
acquiring useful knowledge also; for all our school- 
books were instructive, and the sacred Scriptures were 
used from the beginning by several of the schools, and 
by all of them as the voyage advanced. An abun- 
dant variety of religious tracts, and of valuable little 



SCHOOLS ON DECK. 35 

works published by the Tract Society, were in con- 
stant circulation, and diligently perused ; by the great 
body of the people who could read when they em- 
barked, and by others as they acquired the ability, 
were the Scriptures studied in private : morning and 
evening they were read publicly to the whole of the 
people assembled, and they were made the subject of 
catechetical examination, and of solemn and faithful 
exhortation, every evening, and as often in the morn- 
ing as other duties admitted. 

On the Lord's day, the prisoners were always as- 
sembled for " church" at 10 o'clock, a.m.; and as on 
former occasions, the first and second lessons were 
selected with reference to their present circumstances. 
Our sermons were selected from four volumes by the 
Rev. Charles Davy, which uniformly secured the most 
listening attention. At 2 o'clock, p. m., we met again, 
as during preceding voyages, for the recital of por- 
tions of Scripture, catechetical instruction, and exhor- 
tation. The number of men who gave in their names 
for public recitation, and repeated weekly their chap- 
ters to their respective schoolmasters, was considerable. 
Of course, our time did not permit me to hear the 
whole of these volunteers ; I was compelled to rely 
on the testimony of the teachers and inspector, — who, 
I believe, never attempted to deceive me, — and to call 
upon as many to stand up and recite the passage as- 
signed them, as our time would permit. The Old 
Testament types were often explained at the after- 
noon service, and they furnished the most clear and 
impressive illustration of the great doctrines of Christ 



36 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



and of His cross. The " singing of psalms and hymns, 
and spiritual songs," had its proper place in our pub- 
lic worship on the Lord's clay, as well as in our daily 
social and devotional exercises. 

It is difficult to imagine any spectacle more impres- 
sive than that of 263 outcasts, consigned by the vio- 
lated laws of their country to all the horrors of trans- 
portation, closely seated on the quarter-deck of a trans- 
port, under sail to a remote quarter of the earth, with 
scarcely a hope ever again to tread their native shores, 
or to behold, in the flesh, those who are the dearest to 
their hearts, — and the ship's company, the -soldiers, 
their wives and children, all in their sabbath day's 
costumes, arranged in their proper places on deck, all 
seriously engaged in the solemn worship of the Most 
High. There is something in the appearance of such 
a congregation which I am not able to describe, and 
the recollection of which is, at this moment, most 
touching to my feelings. The diversity of counte- 
nance, age and apparent character, among the pri- 
soners; the soldiers under arms; the ship's crew, with 
their officers; the women and their children; all con- 
tributed to increase the interest, and add to the so- 
lemnity of our engagements. No congregation could 
exhibit more decided marks of extreme attention. 
Almost every countenance bespoke a mind engaged, 
and more or less impressed, especially those of the 
prisoners ; and if at any time the attention of a pri- 
soner seemed doubtful, an observant look, accom- 
panied sometimes with a short pause, was sufficient 
to recall it. 



SUBJECT MATTER OF INSTRUCTION. 87 

Our prisoners were now in daily and constant con« 
tact with Divine truth ; they were the subjects of ear- 
nest prayer — secret, and in their presence : the Holy 
Spirit* was, by means divinely appointed, graciously 
striving with their understandings, their consciences, 
and their hearts, and bearing witness to Christ, the 
Almighty Saviour of sinners, who waits to be gracious, 
and rejoices to pardon and to save. The whole coun- 
sel of God was, in the Scriptures, declared to them. 

To the prisoners in the Earl Grey, though guilty 
rebels against God, he had commanded his overtures 
of forgiveness, reconciliation, and life, to be proclaimed 
as freely as to the rest of mankind. In the first epistle of 
John, it is written, "And this is His commandment, that 
we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, 
and love one another, as he gave us commandment."! 
Oh, how merciful, how unutterably gracious is this 
command of God laid on all sinners before whose eyes 
Christ Jesus is set forth according to the Scriptures, 
that they look unto him and be saved /J — saved from 
sin and from death, unto holiness and life. How com- 
pletely does such a Divine command strip all sinners 
of every plea they can possibly urge in defence or in 
palliation of their unbelief,— of their refusal to put on 
Christ as all their salvation and all their desire. How- 
ever desperate their case may be, they are commanded 

* Throughout this chapter, and elsewhere, our excellent author inse- 
parably connects the Holy Spirit and the written or preached word, in a 
way, which has no authority from Scripture, or experience, and is, 
moreover, liable to some grave objections. J. H. F. 

t 1 John iii. 23. I Isa. xlv. 22. 

4 



38 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

of God to receive his beloved Son for pardon and 
peace, purification and life. How desperate soever 
their case may be, their refusal to believe on Jesus 
renders it still more desperate ; their final rejection of 
Christ is their ultimate and unalterable resolve to pe- 
rish for ever 1 / 

At what time is God's command, that we receive 
Christ, to be obeyed? Does the Divine authority al- 
low any delay? Do our desperate circumstances as 
sinners sentenced to death — to eternal death, and 
every moment liable to suffer the full execution of 
that awful and just sentence, in any degree favour 
delay? Does not every moment's delay aggravate 
our guilt and our danger ? It was with these men as 
it is with any other body of people assembled in any 
place, whether at sea or on shore, where Christ, the 
unspeakable gift of God, is scripturally set before 
them; not an individual amongst them can quit the 
place which he occupies but in one of two characters ; 
either that of a man who has been induced to throw 
down the weapons of his rebellion, to comply with the 
overtures of his rightful and benignant Sovereign, ac- 
cept the Son as his divine surety and his peace, and 
so enter upon an interminable course of holy and 
cheerful obedience : or he retires, still clad in the ar- 
mour of his apostacy, a rejecter of mercy, because a 
rejecter of Christ ; more opposed to God than before ; 
more hardened, more guilty, more dead ; more un- 
likely ever to return to God by the reception of his 
Son. 

The command of God to every sinner to whom His 



SUBJECT MATTER OF INSTRUCTION. 39 

gospel is published is, that he do immediately believe 
it. His inspired words are, Ci Behold now is the ac- 
cepted time; behold now is the day of salvation."* 
The proclamation of the gospel of the grace of God 
knows nothing of to-morrow, — nothing of the next 
hour, in respect of the sinner's duty to believe it. 
To-morrow may come — the next hour may come, and 
to me there may be no gospel. This night my soul 
may be required of me ! The next hour may leave 
me in that place w T here there is nothing but the fiery 
blackness, and darkness, and tempest ; the ceaseless 
consciousness of that guilt which I refused to wash 
away in the precious and atoning blood of Christ, 
— the intolerable, but never-failing remembrance of a 
despised, rejected, and benignant Saviour! 

Only mark our blessed Lord's lamentation over Je- 
rusalem : " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest 
the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto 
thee; how often would I have gathered thy children 
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under 
her wings, and ye would not."f Why perished these 
" murderers of the prophets?" Because they refused 
to receive the Messiah ; and in rejecting Him they re- 
jected pardon, peace, and life. And why do sinners 
now perish under the sound of the gospel ? Because 
they choose to imitate them in rejecting Christ. They 
refuse to be gathered by the good Shepherd into his 
fold, to enjoy the security and bliss of his protection 
and smile for ever. Still it is true that the " would 
I" of Christ invites the sinner to come to him; and 

* 2 Cor. vi. 2. t Matt, xxiii, 7. 



40 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

makes it binding on his conscience to look to him and 
be saved. And the most desperate ingredient in the 
sinner's rebellion, — the most appalling feature in his 
character, is the wayward and criminal "would not," 
which he continues to oppose to the most merciful and 
gracious " would I " of the Son of God ? While the 
unbelieving sinner passes along to the gates of death, 
the compassionate "would I" of the Lord Jesus 
Christ ceases not to follow him to the very verge of 
time; and he enters into eternity to take his place 
among the unbelieving and undone associates of his 
choice, still opposing his desperate and ruinous "would 
not" to the long-suffering and gracious "would J" 
of our Divine Emanuel! * 

The people gathered together in the Earl Grey, 
from all parts of the kingdom, are not only, in com- 
mon with all men, urged to flee at once to the Lord 
Jesus Christ as the only refuge for the guilty and the 
lost, but, being now placed in circumstances peculiarly 
favourable to their instruction and reformation, they are 
the more emphatically called upon to avail themselves, 
without delay, of their inestimable privileges, at once 
to yield a believing obedience to the gracious calls of 
Divine mercy, and turn their feet into the path of ho- 
liness and life. In placing themselves in the position 
of convicts, they have voluntarily degraded themselves 
to an extent which defies all language to express, and 
the moral influence of their degradation, and of the 
circumstances by which they will be encompassed in 

* See the effect of this text on the mind of a Socialist, chap. 3. 



SUBJECT MATTER OF INSTRUCTION. 41 

the colony, if not overruled by scriptural instruction 
and prayer, and the gracious operation of the Holy 
Spirit, will tempt them to give themselves up to the 
power of sin and of Satan, and willingly to seal 
their eternal destruction. There is, therefore, no 
time to be lost. They are hastening to a co- 
lony where the elements of spiritual and eternal 
death abound, and where there are but few of the ele- 
ments of spiritual and everlasting life. But more 
than this: these men are on their way to death — to 
judgment — to eternity ; they must sustain for ever the 
character in which they die, and experience all the 
misery or the bliss involved in that character, whe- 
ther it shall be that of the unrenewed rejecter of 
Christ, or the regenerated and sanctified believer in 
His name; according as it is written, "He that is un- 
just, shall be unjust still; and he who is filthy, shall 
be filthy still ; and he that is righteous, shall be right- 
eous still; and he that is holy, shall be holy still."* 
Impurity and guilt must be ever linked with wretched- 
ness, and pardon and holiness with peace. Not only 
are these men on their way to death, judgment, and 
eternity, but /, too, hasten on with them — thither do 
I accompany them. With them, I must appear be- 
fore the judgment-seat of Christ, to answer for the 
fidelity with which I watch for their souls, as well as 
for my own, and improve the opportunity afforded me 
of winning these my fellow-sinners to Jesus, and to a 
participation in the blessings of His great redemption. 

* Rev. xxii. 11, 

4* 



42 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

The eyes of men are upon them — the eyes of 
angels are upon them — the all-seeing eye of God is 
upon them! They are the subjects of a mighty 
contest. Satan desires and labours to retain and 
hold them fast in his bondage, that they may share 
with him in the pains of eternal fire. The Lord 
Jesus, who created and redeemed them, and whose 
property they are, seeks their confidence and their 
hearts ; desires to rejoice over them as his ransomed, 
liberated, and sanctified children, the trophies of his 
victory over sin and Satan, and to present them to the 
Father with exceeding joy. And the contest of which 
these men are the subjects cannot terminate without 
the exercise of the will of each one of them. If they 
continue the slaves of Satan, they choose so to conti- 
nue; they prefer his slavery before the Redeemer's 
liberty. If they renounce Satan, and become the 
faithful followers of Christ, they give themselves to 
Him willing with a willing mind. His love constrains 
them; they see the glory of Jesus, and believe on Him ; 
they willingly and gladly choose him for their Lord 
and Saviour, and rejoice as giving themselves to him 
to be " formed for himself, for showing forth his 
praise." Their salvation, from first to last, they at- 
tribute to his rich and free grace; and to the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, they, with devout and 
grateful ardour, for ever ascribe all the glory and all 
the praise. 

From the commencement of the voyage to its ter- 
mination, the prisoners breathe a moral and a spiritual 
atmosphere. They are in constant contact with Di- 



SUBJECT MATTER OP INSTRUCTION. 43 

vine truth; God, as revealed in the gospel of His Son, 
is continually set before them, together with the great 
realities of time and eternity. Christianity — Bible 
Christianity, is kept perpetually in their view. Every 
hour carries its report to heaven! every hour records 
there the decision of every mind! The people are 
taught that God sends to each one of them a message 
— a message to which they cannot possibly fail every 
moment to reply, and the reply of each is either in ac- 
cordance with, or in opposition to, the Divine will! 
From the question they cannot escape for a day or an 
hour, " What answer do you purpose to give to the 
message of God?" "What answer are you giving, and 
giving every instant?" The Holy Ghost is striving 
with each of them, — convincing them of truth, testify- 
ing to them of Christ and his great and finished salva- 
tion, and persuading them to choose, and to choose 
now, — the things which belong to their peace, lest they 
should be for ever hidden from their eyes; and to his 
gracious influences they willingly yield, or they 
wickedly resist them — and, persevering in their wilful 
resistance, they must ultimately quench the Spirit, and 
so destroy themselves under an accumulated load of 
aggravated guilt. 

With the true nature of the salvation of Christ 
they become more and more familiarized ; they are 
taught that it is a salvation -not merely from hell — 
from wrath — from the remote consequences of sin; 
but a present salvation from guilt and impurity — from 
the love, power and practice of all manner of sin: a 
salvation to holiness of heart and life, — a salvation 



44 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

unto God! They are taught to maintain a watchful 
and spiritual discipline over their feelings and affec- 
tions, their tempers and dispositions, their looks and 
manners, their words and conduct. All unholy sel- 
fishness and contention, all unjustifiable noisiness and 
unhallowed strife, are to be for ever banished from 
amongst them. They are now to become meek and 
lowly followers of the Lamb: the time past of their 
life is to suffice to have wrought the will of the flesh. 

In seeking to win souls to Christ, it is absolutely 
necessary that our minds be deeply impressed with the 
scriptural truth of man's spiritual deadness and dislike 
to God and his truth, as well as of our own utter ina- 
bility to convey to the mind of a fellow sinner a single 
spiritual thought. 

The grand instrument which God hath been pleased 
to ordain for effecting man's conversion to himself, is 
the truth concerning Jesus, as set forth in the holy 
Scriptures.* The Lord hath, both by precept and 
approved example, required! all his believing people 
to make known the gospel of his grace to perishing 
sinners, as opportunity is afforded; and has graciously 
promised concerning His word, "It shall not return 
unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I 
please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send 

• 1 Pet. L 23; James i. 18; Eph. i. 13; 1 Thess.ii. 13, 14; John vi. 
03; Jer. xxiii. 29; Acts viii. 1—4; Rom. x. 17; I Cor. i. 24. 

t Prov. xi. 30; Isa. lii. 7; Dan. xii.3; 2 Tim. ii. 24—26; James v. 
19, 20; Rev. xxii 17; Psalm xcvi. 2, 3; cv. 1; cxlv.; Numb. x. 29 ; 2 
Kings v. 3, &c; John i. 35—51 ; iv. 4—42: Acts viii. 4; Matt. xiii. 
31—33; Mark v. 1—20; James v. 19, 20; Matt vii. 12; v. 10. 



APPOINTED MEANS OF SAVING KNOWLEDGE. 45 

it." # But even the inspired word of God concerning 
Jesus Christ and him crucified, derives its saving effi- 
cacy from the accompanying influences of the Holy Spi- 
rit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the great promise of 
God to His Church;f spiritual illumination, conversion 
of heart unto God, vital union by faith to Christ Jesus, 
is His sole and peculiar work. 

How impressive is this view of the state and con- 
dition of the prisoners in the Earl Grey! How im- 
pressive and humbling this view of our own agency ! 
How necessary to wrestle without ceasing, in earnest 
and believing prayer, for the outpouring of the Holy 
Spirit upon ourselves, and upon all the people whom 
we seek to instruct and to win to Christ ! How much 
is involved in this work of proclaiming Christ ! how 
much that relates to the glory of God and the eternal 
welfare of souls! Oh! it is sacred, impressive, self- 
instructing, and most responsible work, to be moving, 
as it were, between time and eternity, between hea- 
ven and hell, between God the Saviour and Satan the 
destroyer, with reference to the salvation of our fellow- 
men! With a heart oppressed with a sense of its 
own unworthiness, and utter inability to afford saving 
aid to men, who are themselves not only helpless, but 
appallingly indifferent to spiritual deliverance ; to visit 

Msa. lv. 10, 11. 

tlsa. liv. 13; Jer. xxxi.; Joel ii. 28 — 32; Ezek. xxxvi. 27; xxxvii. 
13, 14; Luke xxiv. 49; John vi. 63; iii. 3 — 8; xiv.; xvi.; Acts x. 
44; ii.; Zech. iv. 6; 1 Cor. iii. 1—17; ii. 4,5; 2 Cor. iv.3— 7; John 
iv.23,24; Gal. v. 16-25; Rom. viii.9— 16; Phil. i. 19 % 1 Thess. 
i. 5, 6. 



46 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

often the throne of Divine mercy and implore the out- 
pouring of the Spirit upon these men ; devoutly to look 
up for an answer of peace, and earnestly to watch for 
indications in their temper and conduct, of their re- 
ception or rejection of the gospel; to go again and 
again to the throne of grace, to pour out the heart to 
God, and in the dust to indulge either in humiliation 
and bitter lamentation, or devout praise, according as 
the Holy Spirit shall appear to be yielded unto or re- 
sisted ! Oh, it is solemn work to be thus continually 
approaching God with reference to guilty men, under 
a deep impression of the nature of sin — the sufferings 
and death of Christ — the agonies inseparable from the 
eternal consciousness of guilt, that especially of reject- 
ing God's "unspeakable gift," together with the joy, 
peace, and everlasting bliss which the believing recep- 
tion of Christ secures! Oh, it is holy and peculiar 
work, to be continually coming to Jesus for a word of 
instruction — a message of mercy from His inspired 
Scriptures to the souls whom He hath made and re- 
deemed; to be as often returning to the footstool of 
His throne, in bended lowliness of heart to tell Jesus, 
like the disciples of old, what we have done ; and to 
leave the people and His truth in His own hands, im- 
ploring Him to glorify His name, and magnify the 
riches of His grace, in their present and everlasting 
salvation! 

Many and fervent, without doubt, were the prayers 
offered up unto God in behalf of these men in the 
Earl Grey, by his believing people in many parts of 
England, Scotland, and Ireland, especially by those 



POSITION OF NAVAL OFFICER AS TO PRISONERS. 47 

who so liberally supplied them with books, and by 
pious persons accquainted with individual cases among 
them. We are assured that the Lord Jesus hath en- 
tered into the holiest of all, in heaven, with His own 
blood, having* obtained eternal redemption for us, 
and that He shall see of t hefruit of the travail of 
His soul, and be satisfied. We know that His grace 
is omnipotent — that His blood hath power to cleanse 
from all sin : it is manifest that the redemption which 
is sufficient to meet the case of any sinner, is fully 
adequate to meet the condition of the sinners embarked 
in the Earl Grey; and therefore we look and wait for 
Divine results amongst our isolated and now in- 
structed exiles. Will Jesus illustrate the efficacy of 
His atonement, and the power of His word and 
Spirit, in the conversion and salvation of some, or 
many, or all of these men? For what great purpose, 
having been brought together in the Earl Grey, are 
they instructed in the way of pardon, holiness, and life? 
Will not the Lord, in His wisdom and mercy, overrule 
all their wickedness for good? Would not such a 
result be in harmony with the history of the Divine 
dispensations, and the immutable principles of the 
Divine government? May not God magnify the 
riches and the freeness of His grace, by plucking these 
men as brands from the fire ; and so remind us, that 
no flesh shall glory in His presence, but that whoso- 
ever glorieth shall glory only in the Lord ? Shall 
there be joy in heaven over some of these prodigals 
brought to themselves, and returned to their heavenly 
Father ? Jesus is willing to save them ; will they be 



48 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

made willing under the Divine influence of His mani- 
fested willingness, and of His everlasting and unchang- 
ing love? Oh the intensity of the interest that is felt 
by the faithful in these men ! How vast their influ- 
ence on the souls of other immortals! How incon- 
ceivable the influence of their decisions on the moral 



GRATIFYING BEHAVIOUR OF THE PRISONERS. 49 



CHAPTER III. 

Gratifying behaviour of the prisoners — Conversion to God the only 
foundation of true reformation — Some manifestations of spiritual 
•change — A thunder-storm— Its influence on the Prisoners — Several 
iprofess faith in Christ — George Day — John Williams— A Socialist. 

We now proceed to record the effects produced, 
tinder the Divine blessing, by our system, in the 
character, the tempers, and the general conduct of the 
prisoners during the voyage. In the Earl Grey, not 
only did the number of instances of individual refor- 
mation and apparent conversion to God exceed those 
which occurred in any of my former ships, but the be- 
haviour of the people, as a body, surpassed any thing 
I had ever witnessed in any class of men at sea. From 
the day of their embarkation — indeed, from the hour 
of our first interview in the hulks, these men were 
manifestly under the influence of an intellectual and 
moral, if not of a spiritual power. 

One man who had been, contrary to my regulations, 
put in circumstances of temptation, had his irons re- 
placed for a given period, for theft and drunkenness; 
three youngsters, who, impelled, as they alleged, by 
an unwarrantable curiosity, were found to have quitted 
their proper place on the decks, were also for several 
days subjected to the degradation of having their irons 
5 



50 THE CONVICT SHIT. 

replaced ; one man, for incorrigible and most pernicious 
levity, was dismissed from his office of schoolmaster, 
and was repeatedly separated from the rest of the 
people; another man, who had been detected in using 
improper language, was once or twice placed in a state 
of separation ; and there were two or three of peculiar 
and excitable temper, with whom it was found necessary 
to deal oftener than once, on account of a tendency to 
indulge, during the first part of the voyage, in noisy 
disputation, which, though of momentary duration, 
can never be permitted to pass without an ade- 
quate expression of disapprobation and wholesome 
rebuke. But with the exception of seven, who might, 
perhaps, be justly pronounced indifferent characters, 
and from 13 to 19 more, with whom I was in some 
respects dissatisfied, no impropriety of conduct ap- 
peared amongst the whole 264 prisoners worthy of 
notice. On two or three occasions a few of them 
manifested a disposition to slackness, or other irregu- 
larity in the performance of duty, which gave rise 
to practical addresses, and impressive appeals to the 
understanding and conscience, with a view not only to 
the benefit of the individuals in fault, but that of all the 
people : and perhaps some of our most useful lectures 
"were founded upon similar incidents manifesting some 
want of principle, or imperfection of character; but the 
general conduct of the prisoners was uniformly so supe- 
rior, that the mere allusion to these very few exceptions 
tends to throw too dark a shade over the picture, and 
prevents the reader from distinctly perceiving the de- 
lightful order and harmony, the animating diligence and 



GRATIFYING BEHAVIOUR OF THE PRISONERS. ol 

industry which every where pervaded our prison, both 
above and below; the studious attention of the people 
to our established regulations; and their courteous con- 
sideration and brotherly kindness, in all the relations in 
which they stood to one another, whether as petty 
officers and men, schoolmasters and pupils, or fellow- 
prisoners and felIow T -sufferers. 

Not only was the general behaviour of the prisoners 
from the beginning remarkably pleasing, but a thought- 
ful seriousness obviously pervaded them, which inti- 
mated that more was going on in their minds and hearts 
than was yet fully manifest, and which encouraged the 
most hopeful expectation. It was not mere outward 
decorum and correctness of moral deportment that 
could satisfy our mind^ not a mere superficial refor- 
mation of speech and manners.; we desired to see that 
change effected which would ensure future good con- 
duct upon right and divinely-approved principles— 
that change which involves the safety and happiness 
of the soul in a future world, as w T ell as consistent 
behaviour and usefulness in the present; our hearts' 
desire and prayer w T as, that the whole of our prisoners 
might be, by the power of the Holy Ghost, converted 
unto God, through the knowledge and faith of His 
beloved Son. While, therefore, our daily observation 
was watchfully and anxiously directed to the whole of 
the people, it took especial cognizance of those indi- 
viduals whose temper and conduct gave any indications 
of spiritual life; and such observation gave an interest- 
ing, arousing, and useful turn to our occasional ad- 
dresses and daily expositions of Scripture. 



52 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

We sailed from Plymouth Sound for Hobart Town, 
Tasmania, on Oct. 5th, and had proceeded but a short 
way on our voyage, when I received a letter from one 
of the prisoners, in which, after expressing his views 
of himself as a sinner and a convict, lie proceeds to 
lament the injury he had inflicted on his country, the 
disgrace he had brought upon his relatives and friends, 
and, above all, that he had so offended and grieved 
that blessed Saviour who had suffered and died upon 
the cross, that he, a guilty transgressor, might not 
perish, but have everlasting life. He goes on, with 
much apparent honesty of feeling, to speak of the 
number and aggravation of his sins, of the punishment 
which he deserves, and also of the encouragement with 
which he sometimes thinks on the Saviour's loving- 
kindness and forbearance. In alluding to his crimes, 
he particularizes those of drunkenness, profane swear- 
ing, and lying; and admits that his guilt is vastly in- 
creased by his privileges having exceeded those of 
many in his station in life, as he had been sent to 
school, taught to read, and had even received instruc- 
tion at a sabbath-school; and I may observe that he 
was one of the very few convicts who I ever ascer- 
tained had attended such an institution. After no- 
ticing the kindness of his sabbath-school teachers, he 
makes the most touching allusions to his mother, and 
dwells on a mother's kind affection, — a mother's 
u walk in the ways of godliness," — a mother's prayers 
poured out "over" him at her bedside in secret, — a 
mother's faithful and beseeching advice rejected by 
her wayward son — a mother'* broken heart! — "I was 



the cause," says he, " of breaking her heart;" — it was 
broken " through my disobedience!" — "But, blessed 
be God, she is in glory now! — She was so familial* 
with death, she was prepared to die at any moment. 
She died in my absence, and knew not w T here I was, 
nor how I was getting on. What has God done for 
me, a hell-deserving convict!" He mentions the in- 
fluence which a treatise on the "barren fig-tree" had 
produced upon his mind since he came on board, and 
the insight it had given him into his own character; 
and then alludes to some of the great and precious 
promises of the gospel; those especially in Matt, xi., 
the chapter we had read in our usual course the pre- 
ceding evening. He makes also grateful reference to 
the first chapter of Isaiah. His interesting and really 
affecting letter concludes with thankful, and even joy- 
ous reference to the marvellous dispensations of the 
providence of God in bringing about his embarkation 
in the Earl Grey, where provision was made for the 
spiritual instruction of himself and the other "poor 
ignorant convicts;" — and expresses an earnest desire 
for his own growth in grace, and the success of our 
labours among his fellow-prisoners. 

Any appearance of improvement in a convict, we 
are disposed to view with suspicion. In every thing 
relating to their reformation, we are apt to set limits 
to the Holy One of Israel. But while we regard with 
prudent caution and circumspection all mere profes- 
sions of repentance and change of views, we must at- 
tach a just degree of weight to evident and unqnes~ 
tionable improvement i.n temper #ntj conduct, To 
0* 



54 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

doubt the power of God to convert by his Spirit a 
convict, through the knowledge of Jesus Christ his 
Son, is to dishonour God, to deny the sovereignty and 
omnipotence of his grace, and to place ourselves, w T ho 
are made to differ only by the same grace, beyond the 
reach of his gospel, and of the consistent exercise of 
his mercy. The letter, just referred to, I received 
with thankfulness to the Father of mercies, not only 
as it regarded the writer himself, but as "a token for 
good," respecting the people, among whom I hoped a 
work of grace was begun. I may add, that, in private 
conversations with this man, for the purpose of giving 
him suitable counsel, he evinced such knowledge of 
the plague of his own heart, soundness of views con- 
cerning salvation, and apparent thirst for Christ and 
the sanctifying influence of His truth, as warranted 
the conclusion that he was taught of God. 

From another prisoner I had previously received a 
written communication calculated to awaken hope; 
and there were many whose entire carriage and con- 
duct comported with the knowledge and love of Divine 
truth, — although they had not yet, in words, declared 
themselves "on the Lord's side." The foregoing 
pages will show that the whole of the prisoners were 
in abiding and immediate contact with the gospel of 
Christ, — were ever, so to speak, moving in the Divine 
presence, which is promised to accompany the reading 
of His word, scriptural exhortation, and prayer ; but 
though we are thus warranted to look for the Divine 
blessing, yet we may be required to wait long in the 
exercise of believing patience. 



A THUNDER STORM. 55 

About two o'clock on the morning of the 2d of 
November, and when nearly in 9° north latitude, and 
21° west longitude, the thermometer ranging from 82° 
to 83°, and the barometer as high as thirty inches, I 
was suddenly roused from sleep by the most rending 
peals of thunder, the most vivid flashes of lightning, 
and in an instant I sprang from my bed, and stood 
upon the deck. I was then suffering from a violent af- 
fection of the heart, and w T as unable to leave my cabin ; 
but if I had been able, it was, at that moment, the 
most suitable place for me. My presence elsewhere 
could have proved of no advantage to any one. The 
hour was one in which all w T ere as from heaven called 
to the footstool of the throne of mercy and grace, — 
even those whose duty required them to be either ac- 
tively or passively engaged in works of necessity and 
mercy, were called to lift up, in the faith of Jesus, their 
hearts unto God. 

No language can possibly describe the scene in the 
midst of which I then stood, and by which I saw and 
felt myself encompassed. All creation seemed on fire. 
Thunder, the loudest that ever fell upon my ear, pre- 
vailed in every quarter ; — peal upon peal followed in 
rapid succession; — the distant roar contrasted with 
that in which I felt mjself enwrapped, and the one 
or the other never ceased : — sometimes several peals, 
either close to us, or at various distances from us, pre- 
vailed together. The lightning's flash was too vivid for 
the eyes to look upon, and, both near and at a distance, 
scarcely allowed a moment's intermission. The thick 
Egyptian darkness which intervened was but for a 



•56 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

moment; but even that moment gave to the senses ami 
the mind no repose, — it was darkness that was terrific 
in itself, and gave to the winged thunderbolts and the 
electric corruscations that covered the face of the hea- 
vens, a more piercing glare — a more overpowering 
vividness. The rain fell in torrents, — the breath of 
heaven had died away, — all things appeared to listen 
in awe to the voice of the Eternal, and to watch the 
manifestation and direction of His power. The ship 
was alone on the face of the wild ocean, and in the 
midst of threatening and destructive elements; Cre- 
ation appeared to be breaking up, — all things were full 
of the Divine power: the angry elements testified to 
the guilty the Divine displeasure, and powerfully sug- 
gested "the coming of the day of God, wherein the 
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the ele- 
ments shall melt w T ith fervent heat." The soul — the 
conscience, was confronted with God : — and the truths 
of reason, and the inspired truths of revelation, writ- 
ten on the tablets of the heart by the Holy Ghost, were 
read by the awakened spirit in the light of living fire! 
The voice of God, heard in the thunder of His power, 
was heard also in the awful sanctions of His holy law, 
and in the immutable requirements of a neglected gos- 
pel. The scene was well fitted to carry us to the foot 
of that mount which, in the sight of Israel's hosts, 
was covered with the thick cloud — was encompassed 
with thunders and lightnings, from the midst of which 
proceeded the sound of the trumpet, waxing louder 
and louder, and the voice of God, when He had de- 
scended in fire, to deliver to man that holv law which 



A THUNDER STORM. 57 

announces naught but death to the transgressor ; whose 
guilty mind can know no true and lasting peace, until 
he find it on Calvary, under the sprinkling of the 
atoning blood of the Divine Lawgiver Himself — our 
blessed Emanuel, on the accursed tree slain for us!* 
The hour — the very hour of death, was felt at hand — 
the moment of the soul's unclothing! and appearance 
in the immediate presence of the Judge, — to be seen 
in its true character, — in the character then worked 
out, — to be dealt with in perfect accordance with that 
character by God Himself in the midst of the seen and 
felt realities of the eternal world, — free from all guise, 
— stripped of all pretence, — disrobed of all garments 
of human texture, — to be fixed, — for ever fixed, — ac- 
cording to the choice made in life, — made in the body, 
— unalterably fixed for ceaseless ages, in sorrow or In 
joy, — according as Christ shall have been, in life, ac- 
cepted or put away, — according as the Holy Spirit 
shall have been, in life, received to renewal unto holi- 
ness, or criminally resisted, and pollution and death 
preferred. Oh, what is man, — what is sinful and guilty 
man, when viewed in the light of God's fiery law, — 
of the Divine perfections, — the all-pervading light of 
Omniscience, — and surrounded with all the realities of 
the eternal world? When we feel ourselves encom- 
passed with the Divine presence, and experience the 
fiery consciousness of His perfect knowledge of us, or 
of our utter vileness in his sight, — when the soul is 
about to quit its clay tenement, to be removed from 
the sound of the Gospel for ever! and to have its 

* Exod. xix. xx.; Heb. xii. t 2 Cor. v. 



.38 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



own chosen state for ever fixed, — what then can avail 
us any thing but a personal, — a saving interest in 
Christ? What can give peace to the conscience, and 
cover all our iniquities, but His precious blood, shed 
upon the cross as a sacrifice for sin, and effectually 
applied to our souls, through faith, by the power of 
the Holy Ghost? What can secure us from shame 
before Him at His coming, and inspire us with holy 
and child-like confidence when he appeareth, but the 
anointing* of the Holy Spirit of promise setting His 
seal upon us,f and bearing witness w T ith our spirits 
that we are the children of God J by faith in Christ 
Jesus ? What then sustains and comforts the mind in 
reference to oup beloved relatives and friends, but 
scriptural evidence that they have fled for refuge to 
lay hold upon the hope set before them in the gospel, 
and have become the subjects of a heavenly birth ? 
And, oh, how awful — how absolutely insupportable, 
the conviction then, that we — now about to die, — 
have neglected them — have not been faithful to them 
concerning their souls — have not with all our might, 
by consistent example, and in the power of prayer in 
the Holy Ghost, urged them to flee to Jesus, to flee 
at once, and in Him take refuge from the wrath to 
come ! Oh, how true it is that dying moments should 
have nothing left for them to do but the work of 
dying! — of dying in peace, to the glory of our Re- 
deemer, and to the benefit of souls, — dying in the con- 
fidence of Him in whom we have believed, and still do 

* 1 John ii. 120, 27—20. t Ephesians iv. 30. 

I Romans viii. 16. Read these three chapters. 



A THUNDER STORM. 59 

believe ; whom we have loved, and still do love ; whose 
service we have felt to be our perfect freedom, — in 
whose presence we have experienced joy, — and hope 
to experience fulness of joy ; and at whose right-hand, 
through free and sovereign grace, we have the well- 
grounded hope of enjoying pleasures for evermore ! 

The storm continued to rage, in all the terribleness 
of its fury. No human voice was heard, save the 
voice, and that but rarely, of the officer carrying on 
duty. The mind was kept in solemn and awful watch- 
fulness : the annihilation of the ship, the destruction 
of all on board, seemed at hand ; we lay on the borders 
of eternity ! At length a body of electric fire, com- 
monly called a " thunder-bolt," struck the fore-royal 
mast, shivered it into pieces, melted the copper in the 
sheave-hole, passed down the masts and the iron chain 
halliards, and having partially diffused itself through 
the parts of the vessel immediately adjoining the comb- 
ings of the foremast, struck, though not fatally, three 
men : after doing various damage, it entered the prison, 
passed round the decks amongst the prisoners, and then 
disappeared. For some time, until the carpenter 
sounded the well, it was doubtful whether or not the 
ship was about to go down, and for awhile she seemed 
on fire. I stood watching with my feet the indications 
of the deck, whether the vessel was sinking or not, 
and with breathless solicitude listened for the prisoners' 
shriek when they should feel the water rising upon 
them, and the ship descending into the deep, to be 
buried with all on board, under the waves. The scene 
now appeared to have reached its climax of awful 



60 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

impressiveness. The manifestations of Omnipotence 
were now unutterably overwhelming to the mind, the 
realities of the unseen world now threatened to open 
on our view, and to appear before us in the light of 
the fire of God's own kindling. 

The prison, as testified by two hundred and sixty- 
four men, exhibited a scene that no language can de- 
scribe. The prisoners were laid prostrate; most, if not 
all of them stretched on the deck, — every object seemed 
lighted up with electric fire! — the broad-headed iron 
nails with which the bars placed around the hatch- 
ways are studded, were almost brilliantly illuminated, 
and appeared as if consuming. The prisoners lay 
along under their burdens of sin and guilt, — their past 
lives were placed before them in more than the light 
of the fierce thunder-bolts, for they had by this time 
been instructed in the Scriptures, they had all in some 
degree learned the requirements, and the penalties of 
God's "holy law" — they had all heard of His love, — 
of the unspeakable gift of His love, of His revealed 
" long-suffering, and unwillingness that any should 
perish, but that all should come to repentance ;"* all 
had heard of the Divine efficacy of the blood of Christ 
to wash away all sin, and speak peace to the guiltiest 
conscience; and they had heard the invitation and com- 
mand of God that they should believe on the name of 
His Son Jesus Christ for present and everlasting life, 
and love one another as He gave us commandment.! 
They thought that the hour of final account, the great 

* 2 Peter iii. 9. t 1 John iii. 23. 



THE THUNDER STORM. 61 

day of judgment was come, at least that to them time 
should be no longer, and that their eternal state would 
now in a few moments be for ever fixed ! They al- 
ready felt that God was dealing with them as his re- 
sponsible creatures, and with solemn, perplexing, and 
unquiet anxiety were they now compelled to deal with 
themselves, and that in the midst of the most fearful 
tokens of the Almighty power and all-searching know- 
ledge of that holy, merciful, and just God whom they 
had despised, and whose beloved Son, together with 
His great salvation, they had wickedly put away. 
The things of time they now saw in all their unsatis- 
fying vanity, and felt the paramount importance of an 
interest in the friendship of Him who alone is the 
efficient friend of sinners, — who laid down His life to 
redeem them, and who alone "is able to save to the 
uttermost all who come unto God by Him, seeing that 
he only ever liveth to make intercession for them." 

All that passed at this time through the minds of 
the prisoners, all the communication which took place 
between them and God, is known only to Him who 
searcheth the heart and tries the reins of the children 
of men. 

After a period of about two hours, the flashes gra- 
dually became less vivid, the thunder more distant; 
all was ultimately hushed into serenity and peace, and 
the mind was left to its thoughts, to make a suitable 
improvement of God's fearful yet merciful visit, and 
lay to heart all the solemn lessons which He ever in- 
tends to teach, when He thus passes by in the whirl- 
wind, the earthquake or the fire. 
6 



62 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



On the following morning, when I visited the prison, 
deep seriousness seemed to pervade every mind. All 
the prisoners appeared to have been deeply affected, and 
all were disposed to dwell upon the scene they had 
witnessed, and to make it the subject of solemn con- 
versation. We assembled below for reading the Scrip- 
tures, and prayer; and in addition to our proper chap- 
ter for the morning, which was Matthew xviii., we 
read Job xxxvi. and xxxvii. ; and endeavoured, in a 
solemn address to the people, to make a suitable and 
practical improvement of the previous night's dispen- 
sation, and of God's marvellous manifestation'of long 
suffering and sparing mercy. In the evening, we 
again made seasonable allusion to the momentous and 
impressive subject. With several of the people I con- 
versed in private on the things belonging to their peace, 
and with much satisfaction. The instructions received 
from the Bible seemed to have been much more deeply 
impressed on the heart than I had hitherto imagined. 
To understand Christianity had from the day of their 
embarkation been their great business, and with one 
accord they now seemed to feel that it was a business 
of which they ought not to be ashamed, and their at- 
tachment to which it was consistent to avow, — sinful 
and unsafe to conceal. The manifestation of the Divine 
power, and intimations of a coming judgment, had ren- 
dered it, in their view, quite reasonable that the ever- 
lasting concerns of the immortal soul, together w T ith 
the glory of God, should be made the great business 
of life. The melancholy intelligence received from 
the ship Duchess of Northumberland, with which we 



WRECK OF THE WATERLOO. 



63 



communicated shortly after the thunder-storm, of the 
wreck of the convict ship Waterloo at the Cape of 
Good Hope, and the consequent loss of one hundred 
'and eighty prisoners, and fifteen soldiers, made a deep 
impression upon all our minds, and afforded subject of 
touching address and admonition to the people in the 
Earl Grey. 

From this time our occasional addresses and daily- 
expositions of sacred Scriptures became more pointed 
and personal, our dealings with the conscience more 
close and pressing. The gospel was now exhibited 
in its most encouraging aspect to the most depraved 
and unworthy among depraved and despised convicts ; 
— redemption was more closely and impressively set 
forth in its relation to the fixed and immutable prin- 
ciples of the moral government of the universe; close, 
personal and regular examinations of the people on 
their acquaintance with Scripture, and particularly 
with reference to their views of the way of salvation, 
were commenced, and proved most interesting and 
instructive to the people, all of whom were, on these 
and all other occasions of meeting for devotional ex- 
ercises, assembled and closely seated together, either 
in the prison, or on the upper deck. The application 
of the prisoners to their Bibles and other good books, 
and the manliness and correctness of their behaviour, 
were most remarkable and pleasing. Private conver- 
sations with those who desired to converse with me 
respecting their personal salvation, became more fre- 
quent. Seven of my men I felt warranted to regard 
as being taught of God ; and shortly after four were 
added to their number. 



64 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

By the 7th of December, to ray joyous satisfaction, 
I was able to regard eleven of my prisoners as disposed 
by God's grace to submit to the authority of Christ? 
to take up His cross and follow Him. On the follow- 
ing day, these eleven men met in the widest part of 
the prison, in which our daily worship w T as conducted 
when the weather prevented our being on the upper 
deck; and in the presence of all the people, after prayer 
to God, they w r ere solemnly addressed as men who 
professed, through grace, to bewail the plague of their 
own hearts, the wickedness of their past lives, their 
lawless conduct and evil example, to feel their desert of 
everlasting condemnation, and need of Divine deliver- 
ance ; — as men who, by the teaching of God's word 
and Spirit, had, through His infinite mercy, been led 
to perceive the all-sufficiency of the obedience and 
death of Christ to give peace and acceptance with 
God and to save the chief of sinners; as men who had 
obeyed the command of God to believe on His Son 
Jesus Christ, and desired henceforth to be the Lord's 
— to live to His honour and glory, to cast in their lot 
with His people, — and thankfully to submit to the pro- 
mised teaching of the Holy Spirit, to qualify them for 
all the duties of life, and prepare them for the glory 
and the rest of heaven ! 

Thus were these eleven men voluntarily formed into 
a Christian society for the worship of God, and obser- 
vance, as far as present circumstances allowed, of His 
appointed ordinances; for mutual edification and com- 
fort, and exhibition of the light of Divine truth to the 
prisoners around them. 



ADDRESS ON THE CASE OF ONESIMUS. 65 

To the Lord we looked up in prayer and faith for 
direction in the selection of a suitable portion of Scrip- 
ture for this solemn and most affecting occasion, and 
were unexpectedly led to Paul's epistle to Philemon, 
which furnished the most impressive and encouraging 
instruction to us all, particularly that portion of it 
which more immediately relates to the history and con- 
version of Onesimus, a servant or slave, who had un- 
lawfully absconded from his master, after having, as 
some think, robbed him. In the all-wise and gracious 
arrangements of Divine Providence, he had been led 
to Rome, where, through the preaching of the Apostle 
Paul, he was brought to the saving knowledge of 
Christ, of which he gave immediate evidence by his 
affectionate attendance, as a Christian "son" on that 
spiritual father, through whose means, by the power 
of the Lord, this criminal runaway had been begotten 
again to a lively hope. The Apostle, much to his in- 
convenience, sends him back to his master, requesting 
that he may be received, not now as a servant or slave, 
but as a " brother beloved," even as Paul himself; and 
in the true spirit of Christianity generously charges his 
friend Philemon, "If he hath wronged thee, or oweth 
thee aught, put that on mine account : I, Paul, have 
written it with mine own hand, I will repay it." 

The case of Onesimus admitted of the most happy 
and encouraging application to that of the prisoners. 
Without interfering with their responsibility, the holy 
providence of God was overruling their wickedness 
for good : — they, like Onesimus, were brought under 
the preaching of the gospel even in a prison ; like him 



66 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



they were shown by the Holy Spirit, from the in- 
spired writings of the same Apostle, that the blood of 
Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin, and that now they 
are, by God, commanded to repent and believe the 
gospel, and obtain, as the free gift of the Most High, 
without money and without price, the forgiveness of 
all their sins, the renovation of their nature, the new- 
heart and the right spirit; to be "no more strangers 
and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and 
of the household of God," — to be, each of them, like 
Onesimus, "a brother beloved" to the praise of the 
unsearchable riches of Christ ! Although our meeting 
was special and peculiar, our exercises, as usual, con- 
sisted in prayer, reading of the Scriptures, exposition, 
exhortation, praise, and thanksgiving; the psalms and 
hymns being selected for the occasion. Before the 
address was delivered, the names of the professing 
disciples of the Lord Jesus were distinctly announced 
in the hearing of all present. The meeting was 
most solemn and affecting. The visible obedience of 
these eleven men, in thus confessing the name of their 
blessed Lord and Saviour before their fellow -prisoners, 
and not forsaking the assembling of themselves toge- 
ther, as the manner of some is, made a strong impres- 
sion on the minds of observers.* 

Their confession of the faith of Jesus was made not. 
only in the presence of men, but of angels; and God 
himself was witness ! — witness of the state of our hearts, 
the agreement of which, with that which the human 

* Matt. x. 32 -'J9; Heb. x. 19-25. 



BRIEF NOTICE OF GEORGE DAY. 67 

eye beheld, He alone could see, who will continue to 
witness the agreement or disagreement of our entire 
succeeding life and conduct, with the solemn and public 
profession we made on the eighth day of December, 
1842; and where shall we find power to walk in peace 
and holiness, but in the influence of the Holy Spirit, 
and in continual dependence on the precious blood of 
Jesus? 

The complexion of our meetings for Divine wor- 
ship was, from henceforth, changed. Besides the 
congregation, consisting of all the other prisoners, 
there were the professing disciples, who, through 
grace, had by faith and holy obedience been separated 
from the rest,* — who now desired to follow Christ, 
through evil report and good report, according to His 
word,— and who, feeling that they had "much for- 
given" them, were under the highest obligation to 
" love muck" and henceforth to. dedicate themselves, 
body, soul, and spirit, to Him w T ho redeemed them to 
Himself by His blood. 

A prisoner named George Day, who had for some 
time been ill, was confined to his bed, which happened 
to be near the place where I was standing w r hen 
speaking from the Epistle to Philemon. He was not 
in my sight, for a number of the people were seated 
in front of his berth, but I afterwards learned that he 
had listened most earnestly and anxiously to all that 
was said. And when he heard of Onesimus's charac- 

*Acts v. 12— 14; xix. 9; 2 Thess. iii. 6— 16; 1 Tim. vi. 1—5; 
Rom. xvi, 17; 2 Tim iii. 1—5; Eph v. 11. 



68 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



ter and conversion, he exclaimed to the following ef- 
fect, unheard, as he thought, by any around him : 
" What! a runaway slave, that had robbed his master! 
— he converted! — he brought to Christ! — he received 
back and pardoned! — he saved! — a runaway slave 
saved! — and why not a convict?" breathed out the 
soul of poor George Day ; — " why not a poor wretch- 
ed convict? Will not Jesus receive me too? Is not 
His blood able to wash away all my sins? — May not 
J be saved?" And in this state of mind be continued ; 
sometimes filled with joy, sometimes with anxiety and 
fear. He passed almost a sleepless night. His mind 
could not now rest until he knew that his soul was 
safe, and that he had obtained an interest in Christ; 
for as yet he had obtained no settled peace. But 
he was perplexed by the inquiry, " When am I 
to obtain the salvation of my soul? when may I 
expect to be put in possession of the salvation in 
which Onesimus rejoiced ?" In this state of anxious 
perplexity, and longing for deliverance, he continued, 
almost constantly in prayer, until the following even- 
ing, when we assembled for our usual devotions, John 
v. happened to be our appointed portion for that even- 
ing, and I was led to dwell on the urgent practical 
application of the 24th verse, viewed in connexion 
with John iii. 36. To all that was said, George 
Day, w T hilst lying in his bed, was listening with the 
most eager attention and devout appropriation. But 
he shall speak for himself, in the following brief and 
somewhat unconnected statement, which I received 
some time after he had openly confessed the name of 



BRIEF NOTICE OF GEORGE DAY. 69 

Jesus. It was dictated by himself, when still con- 
fined to bed, and suffering severely from old and con- 
firmed disease, and was written from his lips on a slip 
of paper, by a fellow-prisoner, who afterwards gave it 
to me : * 

* * * "I bless and praise the Lord that ever 
I came on board this vessel ; for here the Lord has 
had mercy upon me, and brought me to feel myself a 
guilty sinner in His sight. I have been greatly afflict- 
ed ; but I hope my afflictions have been greatly blessed 
to my soul. I, for many years, have been living 
in the service of the devil. I was what might be 
termed a travelling thief, and remained hardened, 
though arrested for my crimes, imprisoned, and now 
transported, — until I came on board the Earl Grey, 
bound to Hobart Town. Blessed be God, the kind 
instruction from God's holy word has been the means 
of my soul's salvation. I was very ill, but remained 
quite unconcerned until I heard the Epistle to Phile- 
mon read. I was then led to compare my last life 
with the life of Onesimus, the runaway servant, who 
found pardon and became a new man; and it power- 
fully came to my mind, that the same Saviour could 
and would save even me, if I came to Him by faith 
and repentance. I hope I prayed, but found but little 
peace until I heard the doctor pressing upon our at- 

* The preceding account was written from the report I received at the 
time. This statement was written shortly before the debarkation took 
place : I transcribe it, with the alteration of only one word, which correct- 
ness required. 



70 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

tention the words of God, contained in the 3d chap- 
ter of John, verse 36, and 5th chapter, verse 24. I 
could scarcely believe it to be true at the time ; for it 
seemed as though a voice spoke to me, i He that be- 
lieveth in the Son hath everlasting life /' I was as- 
tonished! I sprang up in my bed, — I said to myself, 
' Hath everlasting life !' What ! me, Lord ? so unholy ! 
so unworthy! Hath it! — Hath it! — Can it be so? 
Blessed be the Lord, I found the promise true, — I be- 
lieved ; I cast myself at the feet of Jesus ; I found 
mercy. I can rejoice in the Lord Jesus ; I have no 
hope but in Him. I am very ill still ; but, I trust 
though my illness is painful at present, it will soon ter- 
minate in the Lord's way ; either I shall go to inherit 
life everlasting, or shall live supported by my Lord, 
who is my life, my joy, my trust, my everlasting All. 
His will be done ! If I live, may I live to the Lord : 
if I die, may I die unto the Lord ! Oh, may I meet 
my Benefactor in heaven, — with my dear fellow-pri- 
soners who have believed through Divine grace ! 
Glory to the Lord for what He has done for so many 
of us ! May He keep us through all the trials we may 
have to pass through in our sad situation as prisoners; 
may we be kept from sin, and be helped to let ' our 
light so shine before men, that others seeing our good 
works may glorify our Father who is in heaven.' — 
Amen." 

This man was born in the army ; and having learned 
no trade, entered, in process of time, on a very irregular 
course of life. Unhappily, too, for himself, as it re- 



BRIEF NOTICE OF GEORGE DAY. 71 

spected both soul and body, he was for some time en- 
gaged in the service of the Queen of Spain. He was 
a great invalid during fully the last half of our voy- 
age, and on arrival at Hobart, he was sent to the 
Colonial Hospital ; in which a truly pious, judicious, 
and zealous medical officer* of the army officiated, 
whose Christian interest in his patients, and unwearied 
labours for their temporal and spiritual good, indicated 
the power of the gospel on his own heart, and through 
the Divine blessing, could not fail to prove most sooth- 
ing and beneficial to those who were placed under his 
care. In this hospital, as soon as my health permitted, 
I visited Day, and ever found him in the most blessed 
frame of mind, though in the midst of great affliction. 
He appeared never for a moment to have lost his con- 
fidence in the Saviour, — and his rejoicing in His 
finished redemption was ever accompanied with the 
deepest humility, self-abasement and self-distrust. 
His feet seemed fixed on the Rock of Ages; his joy 
was in the freeness and the riches of Divine grace ; his 
consolations were evidently the promised consolations 
of the Holy Spirit. Some time before I left the co- 
lony he died — and died, there are the best reasons for 
believing, holding fast Christ, the beginning of his 
confidence, and the rejoicing of his hope, steadfastly 
even unto the end.f 

The paper containing the foregoing statement of 
George Day, was accompanied with a short note from 

* Dr. Mair, Staff Surgeon. t Heb. iii. 



72 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

the prisoner who transmitted it to me, from which I 
make the following brief quotation, in order to show, 
in some degree, the writer's state of mind, with refe- 
rence to himself and the other prisoners : 

* * * "Please to allow me, in behalf of the 
great body of my poor dear fellow-sufferers, — especially 
those to whom the cross of Jesus has been made the 
power of God unto salvation, and to whom the Word 
of the Lord is precious and consoling, to thank you 
with all our hearts, and the kind people to England, 
for their pity and aid in supplying us so richly with 
those blessed words of God." * * * 

This note anticipates in a measure our report of the 
gracious work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of an 
increasing number of our prisoners. Day after day 
saw another and another of the men apparently 
"plucked " by the hand of Sovereign mercy, as " a 
brand out of the fire "* and added to the number of 
the monuments of rich and free grace in Christ Jesus, 
adorning the gospel by consistent conduct, unceasing 
and earnest prayer, and by active and well-directed 
zeal, for the spiritual instruction and salvation of all 
around them. 

On the night of Dec. 13th, about ten o'clock, a 
heavy sea fell aboard the Earl Grey, and a great 
body of water poured through the main and after- 
hatchways into the hospital and prison. I was at the 
time engaged in abstracting blood from the arm of a 
prisoner suffering under a severe inflammatory affec- 

* Zech. iii. 2. 



BRIEF NOTICE OF JOHN WILLIAMS. 73 

tion, and could not well make my escape from the tor- 
rents. To the minds of most of the prisoners the scene 
was terrific. Nearly all of them were asleep at the 
time the sea fell on the deck, and awoke up in a state 
of great alarm; and their agitation continued for some 
time, through the fearful noise made by the water flow- 
ing down the hatchways, washing from side to side 
by the rolling of the ship, and carrying with it every 
thing tiiat had not been securely fixed, dashing it 
against the sides of the prison. To get rid'of my wet 
clothes and prepare for attending properly an my pa- 
tient, I was carried through the water to the prison- 
door on the back of one of my men. A considerable 
time elapsed before the water obtained an exit from 
our decks. The men who occupied the lower range 
of berths, particularly in the after-part of the prison, 
fled, and took refuge for the nightin those above them, 
leaving their wet bedding to be dried, if possible, 
during the ensuing day. The person and bedding of 
one poor man, named John Williams, who was at the 
time suffering from consumption of the lungs, were 
so wet that a cold chill came on, the effects of w T hich 
bade defiance to all remedies, and on the morning of 
the 15th he died. The scene of the night of the 13th, 
the death of Williams two days after, — his funeral — 
the portions of Scripture read, and the address deli- 
vered on the occasion, made a strong and deep impres- 
sion on the minds of many of the prisoners, and seemed 
more or less to affect them all, leading many of them 
to God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, by the 
faith and obedience of the gospel. 
7 



74 THE CONVICT SHIT. 

Poor Williams, up to a short period before lis death, 
gave no satisfactory evidence of change of heart. 
During- the last few days of his life lie exhibited some 
promising symptoms of contrition and repentance, and 
during the twenty-four hours immediately preceding 
his death, he ceased not to acknowledge that he was 
a most guilty and helpless sinner, referred to the Lord 
Jesus as the only object of his trust, and seemed to 
cast himself humbly and devoutly on his pardoning 
mercy. But here we must, in awful and most painful 
uncertainty, leave him. Of a death-bed repentance 
we are scarcely authorized to speak, except when it is 
accompanied with some very special circumstances, 
some strong and decided manifestation of the power 
of the Holy Spirit, — some clear and distinctive marks 
of his Divine and saving teaching. The Bible en- 
courages no man to delay, for a single moment, his 
reception of Christ, when once set before him in the 
proclamation of the gospel; which is ever accompanied 
with the command of God, that every one who hears 
it do immediately believe it, for pardon, purification, 
and life. It is most true, that whosoever, even in the 
last moment of life, believeth in the Son of God, hath 
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, 
but is passed from death unto life. But man can know 
nothing of the change of the heart but by the fruits 
of the life. When circumstances admit not of the 
production of the unquestionable fruits of righteousness, 
then circumstances allow not man to form a judgment. 
The Lord looketh upon the heart ; He knows its state 
and all its exercises ; and if He should be graciously 



NOTICE OF J — V—. 75 

pleased to give, at the eleventh hour, a living faith in 
Jesus, He will save the soul on which He hath, in his 
abundant and long-suffering mercy, conferred such a 
gift. But when life is not prolonged, to afford oppor- 
tunity of manifesting that faith in holy and consistent 
obedience, we cannot look beyond the veil which is 
spread before our view. All that the Bible affirms is 
true, and will most assuredly be accomplished; every 
divine promise will be fulfilled to the believer in Jesus ; 
but it is an awful sin, involving the most fearful danger, 
for any man to delay his believing reception of Christ 
and of the Holy Spirit, and the production of those 
fruits of holiness which prove the possession of that 
faith which overcomes the world, and works by love; 
and of that blessed hope which leads its possessor to 
purify himself even as Christ is pure. 

One prisoner from amongst the first saven who ap- 
peared to have received the truth in the love of it, and 
to take up the cross to follow Christ, was named 
J V . 

This man, I found, at the time our schools were or- 
ganized, so well educated that I appointed him one of 
my teachers. But I was not aware of the destruc- 
tive principles he "nad imbibed, or the pernicious habits 
he had formed, otherwise I should not have placed him 
in such an important and responsible situation. His 
appearance and general deportment being rather 
pleasing, his scholarship and willingness to teach, in- 
duced me to select him, with others, f>r the important 
office of teaching the people to read the Bible — never 
dreaming that he was prepared to avail himself of 



76 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

that position to substitute for food the most destruc- 
tive poison, and to pervert the opportunity offered to 
him of serving God, into an opportunity of promoting 
the work of Satan,, by seducing souls to licentiousness, 
infidelity > and death? Of his principles and character 
I heard nothing, until I learnt that he was under 
anxious concern for hissouL The following confession 
of his principles and life, made soon after he was 
brought under the influence of the gospel, and writ- 
ten down from, his awn lips, by a fellow-prisoner, will 
best set forth the fearful danger to which he was ex- 
posed, and from which his complete rescue could be 
effected by nothing short of the almighty power of 
the Word and Spirit of God : 

" J V desires with all his heart and soul to 

bless the Lord for bringing him on board the Earl 
Grey." He says, " I came on board what I had been 
for a long time, in my principles, a confirmed Social- 
ist. Having embraced Owen's doctrines, I took every 
opportunity of instilling them into the minds of others. 
I made an attack upon one of the schoolmasters on 
board, and concluded, after a long tussle with him, — 
even with the Bible in hand, — that I had gained a 
most decisive victory. This encouraged me to do all 
the mischief I could, by bringing my fellow-prisoners 
to my faith: and it is a mercy indeed that I was stopt 
in my mad career ; or the mischief I would have 
done might have been great. In the way I have 
mentioned I went on until the night of November 2d, 
when the thunder-bolt came upon us. I was terrified, 
— my principles did not support my mind ; but in the 



THE CONVERSION OF A SOCIALIST. 77 

morning I attempted to laugh it off, and called myself 
a fool for being so fearful. But at the time of prayer, 
we were spoken to in a very kind, but faithful manner, 
and warned to flee from the wrath to come — unto 
Jesus, the only security and peace of a perishing sin- 
ner. 

" One Scripture was repeated which went like a 
dagger to my heart, namely this, ( Jerusalem, Jeru- 
salem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them 
which are sent unto thee, how often would I have 
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth 
her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.'* 
( Ye would not,' struck upon my heart all day long. 
I remembered how God had been calling to me by 
many providences, — and still 'I would not.' The 
Lord Jesus seemed to say to me from the cross, ' Why 
will you not come to Me? 7 — I could get no rest. I 
was horrified by my wickedness, and the abominable 
system I had embraced, and could not indulge a hope 
of mercy. But the Lord sent the same word time af- 
ter time to my mind, and every time with more power 
— ' Why will you not come to Me?' — Thank the Lord ! 
— after some days I found my mind humbling, and 
felt a stronger desire to know Jesus, whom I persecu- 
ted. I prayed as well as I could; and He, at length, 
did bring me to cast myself down, as it were, at his 
feet, and cry out, 'Lord, save me, a guilty sinner ! ? I 
had for some time only a hope — and that very faint ; 
but He soon lifted up upon me the light of His recon- 

* Matt, xxiji. 37 s 

7* 



78 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

ciled countenance; and that brought peace to my mind, 
which I shall enjoy. And my earnest prayer is, that 
I may spend the remnant of my days as a true and 
humble follower of Jesus." 

Such is the confession, — such a brief view of, I 
trust, the conversion of a Socialist. His spirit and 
conduct, from this time, were unexceptionable in every 
respect. Not the breath of a complaint affecting him 
ever reached me, or any of my petty officers or school- 
masters. As a teacher, he was most useful, and most 
exemplary. He became a diligent student of the Bible, 
and of other useful and devotional books. He appeared 
to grow in grace as well as in knowledge: his pray- 
ers evinced his acquaintance with the doctrines of re- 
demption and an experimental knowledge of his own 
spiritual wants and necessities. He now laboured more 
strenuously to cast down the kingdom of Satan than 
ever he had laboured to build it up, and was more zea- 
lous and unwearied in promoting the reign of Jesus in 
the hearts of his fellow-sinners, than he had ever been 
in opposing it. 

Should this brief statement meet the eye of any one 
unhappily entangled by the debasing and destructive 
principles and practices of Socialism, we would pray 
and hope that it may arrest his attention, — lead him 
to reflect seriously on the fearful tendency of that per- 
nicious system in which he has involved himself, — 
dispose him to commence, without a moment's delay, 
the devout, candid, and diligent study of the writings 
of inspiration, the sixty-six sacred books, which God 
has graciously given to us as the only rule of our be- 



THE CONVERSION OF A SOCIALIST. 79 

lief, our practice, and our hope; and if he begin and 
continue his inquiries in a teachable and child-like, or, 
if he please, in a truly manly spirit, with an honest 
desire to know the will of God, manifesting itself in 
a ready, and cheerful performance of that will, at 
whatever cost, the moment it is ascertained, — and if 
he look up to the Father, through Jesus Christ, for 
the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, and rely wholly 
on His teaching and guidance, he will assuredly be 
rescued from the entanglements, pollution, guilt, and 
wretchedness of Socialism, from the power of sin and 
Satan, and be found, like the maniac of old, sitting at 
the feet of Jesus, bis gracious Deliverer — clothed, and 
in his right mind, enjoying that blessed and holy liber- 
ty wherewith He makes all His people free ; and pre- 
pared to spend the remainder of his days in the ser- 
vice of God, a blessing to his country, and wise in 
winning souls to Christ, who will preserve him and 
them in the faith and obedience of the gospel, even 
unto His everlasting kingdom and glory ! 



80 THE CONVICT SHIP. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Account of W. B. — Special prayers— Converts increase — F. M. — J. S. 

Among the prisoners who embarked at Woolwich 

was one named W B , about thirty years of 

age, a man, as it afterwards appeared, of a delicate 
constitution, and subject to a variety of bodily ail- 
ments. When proceeding down the English Channel, 
he was taken ill, and confined to his bed. Having 
inquired into his case, I did not consider him a fit sub- 
ject for a long voyage in a crowded ship, and resolved 
to apply for his debarkation on our anival at Ply- 
mouth. When charged with acting in neglect, if not 
in defiance, of the advice which I had positively given 
to the whole of the prisoners on board the hulks, he 
assured me, from his knowledge of his constitution, 
that a milder climate would prove very advantageous 
to his health, and that he hoped soon to get well, and 
make himself useful to me in any way I might think 
fit to employ him. I was still determined, however, 
according to the spirit of my instructions, to have him 
sent on shore, apprehensive that the voyage might 
prove hazardous to his life. On the following morn- 
ing he sent me a note, in which he implored me to 
allow him to remain in the Earl Grey: and a further 



A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF W B — . 81 

investigation of his case ultimately satisfied me that I 
might, with propriety, permit him to proceed on the 
voyage* By the time we reached the latitude of Ma- 
deira, his health improved ; he became one of my most 
useful teachers; and gave, in process of time, the most 
satisfactory and pleasing evidence that he was a true 
child of God by faith in Christ Jesus. He evinced 
talents of rather a superior order, had been pretty well 
educated, exhibited great manliness of deportment, 
and possessed a most remarkably sound judgment, great 
discernment of character, and considerable acquaint- 
ance with Scripture, and the peculiar doctrines of the 
gospel. His personal piety seemed deep, influential, 
and abiding; his interest in the salvation of the souls 
around him ardent and practical. After he had been 
about two months on board, he never ceased to care 
for his fellow-prisoners, and was always ready to at- 
tend to my instructions, and aid me in every possible 
way. When our voyage was well advanced, I re- 
quested him to give me in writing a few particulars of 
his past life, and received the following statement: 

* * * # * " It is w 7 ith great sorrow 7 of mind I write, 
when I reflect upon the errors and wickedness of my 
past life; but also, I trust,, with great love and grati- 
tude to God, when I take, as I now do, a retrospective 
view of the undeserved mercy of my Creator and Re- 
deemer towards me. If my heart is not deceiving me,, 
I can unite sincerely with David, saying, 'Bless - the 
Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His 
Holy name, and forget not all His benefits/ 

"I was born December 27th, 1812, in London. I was 



S2 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

not favoured with God-fearing parents, and was brought 
up in sin, until I arrived at the age of twelve years, 
when my father, who had carried on a respectable and 
rather extensive trade, became embarrassed through a 
variety of trials and losses in trade, which broke his 
spirits, and he soon became the tenant of the tomb, — 
dying, I fear, without an interest in Jesus Christ. My 
mother was left in trouble, but the Lord graciously 
raised up kind friends. A change of circumstances, 
however, caused her to leave her hitherto comfortable 
home, and to labour for her maintenance in the service 
of a private gentleman. My lot was to be sent into the 
country, my dear grandfather taking charge of me. 
The Lord, I trust, when I was at the Sabath-school, 

in the village of S N , first led me to see my 

ruined state by nature, and, I hope, notwithstanding 
my subsequent shameful and painful departure from the 
way of peace, that, at the age of thirteen years, I was, 
in rich mercy, brought to a saving knowledge of the 
Lord Jesus. Oh, how sweet the memory of the peace- 
ful and happy hours I then spent in walking humbly 
with the Lord, — and in sw T eet communion with him! 
With pain of mind I must tell you, I became united 
with God's people; I do not grieve that I joined 
the Christian Society, but that by my wickedness 
I have disgraced my profession, wounded the holy 
and blessed Saviour, who had done so much for my 
soul, grieved the Holy Spirit, and brought the Lord's 
dear people into affliction. Oh, what evil have I 
done! Oh, that my repentance may prove to be that 
which is unto life, and which shall never need to be 
repented of! 



A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF W B — . 83 

"But to proceed. I remember when my teacher 
was, one sabbath, contrasting the happiness of the be- 
liever with the misery of the wicked, I thought of my 
dear departed father, who, I feared, could not go to 
heaven as he died. This led me, through the Holy 
Spirit's teaching, to consider the state of my own soul; 
and I hope the w T ork of grace then commenced in my 
heart. (I was about thirteen years of age.) From 
the age of sixteen, when I became a member of a 
Christian Church, up to my twenty-second year, I 
continued at S , and was engaged in the Sabbath- 
school, and in various other efforts with God's people, 
to advance his glory. During that time, I, to the 
praise of the Lord, can say that I w 7 as truly enabled 
to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, and to walk 
as becometh the gospel. At the age of tvienty-tvjo, 
I came to London; and being in bad health, and my 
trade laborious, my friends obtained for me a situation 
in a tradesman's office. For three years I was enabled 
to maintain a character consistent with the Christian 
profession ; and being anxious to get on in life, I ap- 
plied myself diligently to my master's interests, and 
was, at the end of that time, made his town-traveller, 
and succeeded in my efforts to increase his connexion. 
But my new sphere of business brought me into more 
frequent intercourse with worldly minds; and being 
exposed, as a matter of course, to the temptation of 
drinking with my customers, in time — to my shame 
and sorrow — that which I had disliked, namely, ar- 
dent spirits, I became fond of. Many struggles, sharp 
and distressing, passed in my poor disordered mind be- 



84 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



tween the powers of grace and sin; but, alas! it be- 
came a confirmed habit with me to drink, and to min- 
gle with some who, though respectable in society, 
proved enemies to my poor soul. Several of these 
were my best customers, and my anxiety to increase 
trade through them brought me at first into contact 
with them, and led me to court their society, which 
ultimately accelerated my sad and awful fall. 

"But the great evil, and that which lay at the foun- 
dation of all others, was my neglect of the means of 
Divine grace, and, most particularly, my fearful ne- 
glect of secret prayer. Oh, I mourn when I remem- 
ber how I was wedded to the soul-destructive habit 
into which I had fallen cf drinking to excess! I 
feared to approach that footstool of mercy where I 
had often poured out the desires of my soul, and found 
sweet access to God, and experienced covenant love 
manifested to my -soul. 

"One evil led to another: to deceive my best and 
my Christian friends, and most of all to deceive the 
wife of my bosom, who is (blessed be God!) a true 
Christian, I admit was hard work. I had to call 
forth all my wicked ingenuity and craft to do the 
work of the devil ^ and a dreadful drudgery I found it. 
Oh, it is an evil and a bitter thing to sin against God ! 
I have found it to be so. May the Lord preserve my 
soul from evil desires, and enable me fully to yield my- 
self unto Him as one that is alive from the dead, and 
my members as instruments of righteousness unto God ! 
I madly pursued the desires of the flesh. As I just 
said, one evil gave birth to another, and I was carried 



A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF W— B . 85 

down the torrent, and plunged at length into the vor- 
tex of iniquity, — indulging in other vices besides in- 
temperance of drinking ; but all of them the com- 
panions of my easily-besetting and darling sin. My 
heart aches ; and I need not enumerate the many crimes 
of which I soon became capable. Oh, the holy Lord 
only can judge of their aggravation and turpitude ! 
But sweet is the truth of the gospel. It now makes 
my heart tranquil and peaceful from day to day. I 
find it not only in 1 John ii. 1, 2, but in many other 
parts of Scripture. It is a precious cordial to my 
weak and wavering mind. Were it not for this blessed 
assurance, I think the remembrance of my past awful 
career against light, and my most desperate and pre- 
sumptuous sins against the Holy Lord, and the blessed 
Saviour who died, I hope, even for wretched me, 
— I say, were it not for this hope, I think I should 
sink into utter despair ; and especially when I think 
of the consequences of my sins, as they affect my 
dear and pious wife, and sweet child, and a whole circle 
of most respectable friends. . . . But I will, in few 
words, close a history which is most grievous to my 
mind ; and hope you will excuse my unconnected way 
of writing ; but I feel more than I can express. 

" I went on until I found my income would not sup- 
port my extravagance; and at length, to meet diffi- 
culties of my own seeking, I added dishonesty to all 
my other crimes ; and used various sums of money to 
my own purposes that I had collected from my master's 
customers. Being at length discovered, and being a 
considerable defaulter, my employer, most reluctantly, 
8 



86 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

was compelled to prosecute. I had been six years in 
his service. Previous to taking his situation, I held 

one for a short time in the city, at Messrs. , and 

I am happy to remember that I was preserved from 
every dishonest act up to the time I have mentioned. 
No praise to me. I thank the Lord, I was, in His 
mercy, restrained from outward crimes, so that on my 
trial I had the benefit of a previous good character, 
and was therefore sentenced to only seven years. The 
Recorder of London, who tried me, most humanely 
told me he would afford me every opportunity in his 
power to redeem my forfeited character and respecta- 
bility. I hope I shall ; but am helpless in myself. 
But I believe that those holy principles which the 
gospel of Christ creates in the renewed mind, will, in 
the use of means, preserve me in His fear, and make 
me once more an honourable, useful man and Chris- 
tian. Gracious Lord ! keep me humble before Thee, 
and watchful; and grant me the true spirit of prayer, 
' that I may break Thy laws no more; but love Thee 
and my fellow-men better than before.' 

"During my stay in theJustitia, I felt the loss of 
privileges I once enjoyed of a religious nature ; but I 
bless God for those I here enjoy. Previous to taking 
my trial, and whilst a prisoner in Horsemonger Jail, 

I met with great kindness from the Rev. Mr. B , 

the pious chaplain. I am sorry to say, I was dread- 
fully hardened up to this time; but his serious and ear- 
nest converse with me, together w r ith his daily instruc- 
tions from the pulpit, by God's blessing, brought me to a 
better state of mind. 



FURTHER ACCOUNT OP W— B— . 87 

* # # # a j) ear Sir, I thank you for all your 
kindness to me, and I thank the Lord for all the good 
I have enjoyed through you! May the Lord bless 
you, is the humble prayer of me, a poor, but I trust, 
a saved sinner! (Signed) "W. B." 

This statement is full of instruction. While it re- 
minds all Christians of the Divine injunctions, "By 
faith ye stand;"* "Watch and pray;"f "Let him 
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall," J it 
loudly warns all my countrymen to beware of sin, — 
of all violation of the laws of God and of their country ; 
and exposes the terribleness of crime and its often- 
attendant punishment — transportation to the penal 
colonies. 

On a later occasion, W. B. put into my hands the 
following succinct account of his recovery to the Lord ! 

"Salvation is of the Lord." 

" The Lord has been pleased in His rich and free 
mercy to accompany the word of His grace with the 
power of His Holy Spirit, read and expounded on 

board this ship, the Earl Grey May the 

Lord bless and keep us all, and help us to grow in 
grace, and to persevere in the way of holiness and 
peace ! The Lord has made us the monuments of His 
mercy. Some of us, the vilest and most hardened, 
have been humbled, and brought to repentance. In 
some of us His grace has been displayed in a most 

* 2 Cor. i. 24. \ Matt. xxvi. 41. %\ Cor. x. 12. 



88 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

wonderful manner Not unto man, but unto 

Thy name, O Lord, be all the glory! 

"I came on board this ship very hardened and reck- 
less, having no hope, and destitute of the peace and 
consolation the gospel only can afford ; and for some 
time I continued in this unhappy state of mind. 

" I was taken ill with severe rheumatism, and confined 
to the hospital; and continued unconcerned about my 
spiritual and eternal interests until one evening, when 
two men were reported for improper conduct. It was 
thought proper to deal with these men in the hospital, 
instead of doing so, agreeably to the usual practice, on 
the quarter-deck, and I heard them spoken to most so- 
lemnly with reference to the evil nature of sin, and its 
dreadful consequences if persisted in. My mind be- 
came very agitated; I was led to think upon my own 
wickedness and impenitence in the sight of God. I 
could not sleep or rest. I remembered I had once pro- 
fessed to be the Lord's, but had fallen by my iniquity. 
I trembled before a holy God; and the remembrance 
of my wilful and foolish departure from Jesus Christ, 
and that my sins had again pierced Him, filled me with 
misery and despair; in which state I continued until 
the following morning, when it pleased the Lord, I 
trust, in answer to earnest prayer, to bring to my mind 
that of which I had been so long destitute, namely, 
peace. I remembered that Jesus died even for the chief 
of sinners ; and He was pleased, by His Holy Spirit, 
to send to my mind His own consoling words, — ' Peace 
I leave with you ; My peace I give unto you : not as 
the world giveth give I unto you.' Blessed be the 



FURTHER ACCOUNT OF W— B — . 89 

Lord ! He helped me to lay hold of His promise, and 
with deep heart-felt sorrow, I believe, I poured out 
my soul in the feelings and language of sincere repent- 
ance; and was, by His grace, brought to the Cross, 
and enabled to put my trust in Him who died thereon : 
and He gave me that peace, which, blessed be His 
name, I now enjoy, arising from faith in His justifying 
righteousness, and precious, cleansing blood. I can 
now rejoice in the Lord, and my heart is desirous still 
more to love Him who first loved me, and hath drawn 
me by His cords of love to receive Him as the Father's 
unspeakable gift. To Him, I look, and on Him de- 
pend, for salvation from the power and indwelling of 
sin. I have no other hope of Saviour but Jesus, 
neither do I desire to have. If I know myself, my 
anxious inquiry is, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to 
do? Oh, that He would make use of me as an in- 
strument of good to my dear fellow-sinners, and help 
me to glorify my heavenly Father by bringing forth 
much fruit ! May I be kept by his power, through 
faith, unto salvation ! My own wisdom, strength, and 
righteousness, I feel, by daily experience, will not 
avail; for I have nothing to trust in but the Lord 
Jesus, who of God is made unto me wisdom, right- 
eousness, sanctification, and redemption. I can trust 
in the Lord generally, though fear and unbelief some- 
times creep in, and rob me of my peace. But, thanks 
to the Lord for his Divine mercy to me, a vile sinner ! 
"I am not troubled for the future, even in my pre- 
sent unhappy situation as a prisoner. The Lord, I 
believe, will support and comfort me, for he has said 
8* 



90 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

so: c Casting all our care upon Him, for He careth for 
you,' is a stay to my mind. Oh, may I be watchful 
and prayerful, and enabled to cleave unto him ; and 

may I meet dear Dr. B in heaven, to enjoy and 

praise our glorious Lord in one perpetual rest for ever, 
through sovereign grace! Amen, and Amen." 

It will be remembered how my purpose, that this 
man should not sail in the Earl Grey, was overruled. 
In the course of the voyage he stated to me, that, be- 
fore he had seen me, or knew any thing of the system 
of instruction and discipline that would be in operation 
in that transport, his desire to embark in her was so 
strong and peculiar that he could not express it in 
language. Although by the tenderest ties his heart 
was knit to home, he could not repress his extraordi- 
nary, and at the time unaccountable, wish to embark 
in the Earl Grey, for conveyance to the land in which 
he was justly doomed to pass seven years of most dis- 
honourable and revolting bondage. 

His gratitude for the goodness and mercy of the 
Lord towards him during the voyage was most deep, 
ardent, and devout; and I had scarcely less cause of 
thankfulness to the Father of mercies for his assist- 
ance in the spiritual instruction and improvement of 
the people. 

It will be remembered that we sailed from Plymouth 
Sound on the 5th October. It was on December 8th 
that the eleven men made a public profession of their 
faith in Christ, and of their purpose, in His strength, 
to cultivate holiness in heart and life. Up to this 
period, W — E — was employed as a schoolmaster, and 



NEED OF PRAYER. 91 

I believe that lie had not neglected opportunities of 
drawing the attention of his fellow prisoners to the 
gospel, although he had not yet manifested that re- 
markable zeal by which he was afterwards distin- 
guished. This may have been caused by the delicate 
state of his health, and by his sense of peculiar guilt 
as a backslider from that God and Saviour whose love 
he had early tasted. 

In addition to our morning and evening reading and 
exposition of sacred Scripture, with accompanying 
devotional exercises, I had commenced a series of 
popular lectures on Geography, &c, in order to lead 
the people to contemplate the perfections of God in 
the material creation, in connexion w T ith the study of 
His Divine attributes in the pages of inspiration. I 
had also begun an explanatory and practical exposition 
of the Epistle to the Romans. Our examination of 
the people one by one, in regular order, took place as 
often as other urgent duties admitted; and in no in- 
stance did we neglect to make special inquiry into 
their acquaintance with the scriptural way of salva- 
tion. 

For some time my mind had been greatly oppressed 
by the consideration that our voyage was rapidly ad- 
vancing towards its termination, and that, although 
their general deportment was so serious and pleasing, 
such scanty evidence of a decided character had as yet 
been afforded of a work of Divine grace in the hearts 
of the prisoners. From the period of my appointment 
my mind had been more or less deeply impressed by 
the great truth, that the conversion of the soul to God 



92 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



by the faith of Christ is exclusively the work of the 
Holy Spirit, and in our daily intercourse and prayers, 
I do not think that this Divine truth had ever been lost 
sight of. But the necessity of special, earnest, and 
believing prayer for the abundant effusion of the Spirit 
of all grace, was, as the voyage advanced, more deep- 
ly felt; and as individual prisoners turned to the Lord, 
they were implored to m:ike the promised gift of the 
Holy Spirit the special subject of their supplications 
at the throne of grace. Thus prayer, both secret and 
social, with a particular reference to this subject, be- 
came more prevalent and fervent. 

What an event is the conversion of a soul unto God ; 
for the accomplishment of which the beloved Son of 
God came into the world and died, and for which the 
Holy Ghost was promised and sent. What is the 
planting of an earthly monarchy, when compared with 
the deliverance of an immortal soul from sin and 
death — excepting, indeed, as such a monarchy may be 
made subservient to the extension of the Redeemer's 
kingdom? What is the grand end supposed to be 
answered in the Divine dispensations by this voyage? 
Not the mere conveyance of 264 men, for their crimes, 
to a remote corner of the world. The great design, 
whatever subordinate ends may be secured, is unques- 
tionably the advancement of the reign and glory of 
Christ, in the conversion of souls through the power 
of His gospel. 

The people were more and more closely and ear- 
nestly dealt with in reference to their individual and 
personal safety in Christ Jesus. They were urged to 



REMARKS ON INSTRUCTION OF THE PEOPLE. 93 

bring their belief, their hearts, their practice, to the 
test of inspired Scripture; to be faithful to each other; 
to recollect that each is his "brother's keeper;* that 
they are responsible to God for their influence upon 
one another; that each is bound to give himself to 
Christ without delay; and, without delay, labour to 
win to Christ all to whom he has lawful access. 

The glory of God in the salvation of the soul, and 
its advancement in Divine knowledge and holiness, 
obviously became the all-absorbing concern of a great 
body of the people. All things else took their proper 
place in our consideration, and in the employment of 
our time. My private conversations with the im- 
pressed and inquiring, became more frequent, and 
passing incidents were earnestly turned to the highest 
account. 

Practical, solemn addresses on seasonable and ap- 
propriate subjects from Scripture were delivered as 
frequently as strength and other engagements per- 
mitted, and the blessing of the Lord, which alone 
maketh rich, and w T ith which he addeth no sorrow,! 
was not withheld from us. Blessed and praised for 
ever be His holy name! 

On Dec. 14th, the people seemed impressed by an 
address founded on Ezek. xxxiv., particularly verses 
11 — 16. On the day following, the subject of solemn 
address was Death; suggested by the death of John 
Williams, referred to, Chap, iii.; and on the 16th, 1st 
Corinth, xv. was expounded at morning and evening 

* Gen. iv. 9; Lev. xix. 17. t Prov. x. 22. 



94 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

worship. On this day the number of men who ap- 
peared truly to have embraced Christ as all their sal- 
vation and all their desire, and to have taken up His 
cross to follow Him, had increased to twenty-four. 

On Saturday, the 17th, between two and three 
o'clock in the afternoon, thirty-five of the people as- 
sembled in the ward, all of whom had either received 
Christ in truth or expressed a desire to be found among 
His true and faithful followers. They were all briefly 
addressed in reference to the profession they had made, 
considered in its relation to God and to man, especially 
to their fellow-prisoners. Yesterday and to-day, one 
of the people, at my request, engaged in prayer, and 
with peculiar propriety and great acceptance. 

Dec. 18th was the Lord's clay ; and a most solemn 
and memorable day it was to us on board the Earl 
Grey. The state of the weather rendered it neces- 
sary that we should assemble for church below in the 
prison. Nearly the whole of the people had met of 
their own accord in the morning, immediately after 
breakfast, to read the Scriptures, and engage in social 
prayer for the Lord's gracious presence, and the out- 
pouring of His Spirit upon us when assembled at 
church. As I entered the prison for church, I found 
one of the petty officers just concluding the third chap- 
ter of Malachi. They had begun their worship with 
singing the Morning Hymn. My mind was most 
agreeably impressed by this voluntary demonstration 
of the people's desire to worship God, to edify one 
another, and to seek the salvation of souls on board. 
The scene, as I entered the door, was truly impres- 



RECITAL OF SCRIPTURE, ETC. 95 

sive. A deep seriousness pervaded the assembly. We 
prayed the Litany ; and I hope the Lord was with us, 
and was truly worshipped. 

In the afternoon service, the captain of the second 
division recited, with the most perfect accuracy, the 
whole of the Sermon on the Mount. Being called to 
attend to other duties, the meeting was concluded by 
W* B — r reading to the people a section of my address 
to the Irish women transported to Sydney, under my 
care, in the year 1840. In the evening, after some 
remarks on 1 John iii., which had been recited in the 
afternoon, the people's attention was drawn to certain 
expressions in their communications to me, which clear- 
ly implied great legality of sentiment and feeling, in 
reference to their salvation — such as, "I have resolved 
to do my utmost;" "I mean to commence a new 
course;" "I have resolved" to do this, and to do 
that, and the like, which expressions imply a want of 
perception of the presentness,fremes$, and perfection 
of the salvation of the Son of God, as set forth in the 
Scriptures, for example in Romans x. and John iii. — 
a blindness to the truth, that Jesus the Saviour is the 
free and unspeakable gift of the Father to guilty, lost, 
and helpless sinners. The subject was illustrated by 
reference to a debtor offered a full and free discharge 
from his debt. The discharge is held out to him ; it is 
close to him; he is simply to accept of it as a gift; it 
is offered to him now, it is pressed upon his acceptance, 
and he is required without a moment's delay to accept 
of it, for the purposes for which it is given. A man 
is perishing of hunger: bread, without money and 



96 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



without price, is set before him ; he is implored to re- 
ceive it, to eat and live: does he say, Well, I am de- 
termined, when I get on shore, or to the colony, or 
am placed in other circumstances, I will most strenu- 
ously labour to obtain this bread, that I perish not? 
Why, it is presented to him now! He needs it now! 
It is a gift! It cannot be bought. It is the free gift 
of his Sovereign. And so is the salvation of the 
gospel. The serpent-bitten Jew in the wilderness looks, 
simply looks, in faith, to the serpent lifted up on the 
pole, and in looking is healed, and lives! The Philip- 
pian jailer, overwhelmed with guilt and fear, cries, 
" What must I do to be saved ?" He is told to believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ; he believes, and is saved, 
and immediately obtains peace and joy. 

Divine worship concluded on this most interesting 
day with singing the hymn, — 

Not all the blood of beasts 

On Jewish altars slain, 
Could give the guilty conscience peace, 

Or wash away the stain. 

But Christ the heavenly Lamb! 

Takes all our sins away, 
A sacrifice of nobler name, 

And richer blood than they. 

From my Journal, I make the following extract: 
" The number of prisoners onboard the Earl Grey 
who have either believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, or 
profess to be earnestly seeking an interest in His great 
salvation, amounts, this day, to forty-seven: all of 
whom regularly meet together at stated times for the 
reading of the Scriptures, social prayer, and praise. 



THE GOSPEL AT EVENING WORSHIP. 97 

"All glory be ascribed to the Father, and the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost, both now and for evermore. 
Amen." 

On the day following, I received information of 
another man being under deep concern about his best 
interests, but my numerous and urgent duties not per- 
mitting me to converse with him myself, I could only 
appoint W — B — to do so in the mean time: and it 
was a great relief to my mind that the Lord had been 
graciously pleased to provide and qualify a man whom 
I could employ in such sacred work, and in whose 
spiritual discernment, judgment, and integrity, I could 
place such entire confidence. The peculiarities of in- 
dividual cases afforded subject of general instruction, 
calculated, under the Divine blessing, to benefit all the 
people, as well as the persons more immediately in 
view. But whatever might be those peculiarities, 
we never ceased to keep before the minds of all, the 
scriptural answer to that all-engrossing question, 
"How can God be just in justifying the ungodly who 
believe in Jesus?" Their responsibility for the exer- 
cise of their will and affections is urged upon them; 
and the iniquity, folly, and danger of delaying, for an 
instant, their grateful and joyous reception of Christ 
for all the ends for which He is given, is so unceasing- 
ly pressed upon them, that they cannot escape from 
the thought that either they have received the Son 
of God, or are rejecting Him every hour ; that they 
are voluntarily yielding to the Holy Spirit's per- 
suasive dealings with them, or are resisting Him, and 
most wickedly putting Him aw r ay from them. 
9 



98 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

This chapter I shall conclude with brief notices of 
two men who appeared to have turned to God, by the 
faith of His Son, Jesus Christ: 

F. M., twenty-seven years of age, and brought up 
in the habits of a farm-labourer, was one of those men 
who received their entire education on board the Earl 
Grey. On Oct. 11th, he was taken ill, was for some 
time confined to the hospital, and lay close to John 
Williams; whose death has been noticed. Of himself 
he says, — 

" All my life I have been living in sin and crime, a 
hardened man. But I have reason to be thankful that 
I came here. The Lord afflicted me and brought me 
very low: but, thanks be to His name! He has raised 
me up again, I thought nothing about my soul until 
I w T as getting well; and when serious things troubled 
me I put them out of my mind as soon as I could. I 
had often talked to John Williams, who lay near me 
in the hospital ; but nothing particular occurred until 
the day on which he was buried in the sea. I was 
then very much affected ; and I thought, had it been 
me instead of Williams, I must have been lost for ever ! 
These thoughts led me to pray, and, I hope, sincerely. 
My feelings I cannot describe ; I never felt the like be- 
fore. But I remembered what had been often told us 
on board, and I was reading in my testament every 
day, ' that Jesus died to save sinners, even the chief. ' 
But I did not know how to pray ; the distress in- 
creased, until I felt forced to cry to Him — O Lord, 
save me, and wash me in Thy blood ! I seemed in- 
stantly a new man — I could believe on Him ! I feel 



BRIEF NOTICE OF J— S — . 99 

still very weak, and disposed often to do what is evil. 
Blessed Lord ! keep me near to Thee, and make me a 
true and living servant of Thine." 

This poor man had been taught to read his Bible 
on board ; and although his mind had not greatly ex- 
panded, his power of thinking, and of thinking profit- 
ably, had greatly increased ; his whole appearance had 
most obviously improved, and his spirit, manners, and 
conduct, corresponded with his profession of the Chris- 
tian faith. 

Towards the end of the voyage, when suffering se- 
verely from the effects of fatigue and care, I received 
the following letter from a young man, about twenty- 
two years of age, who had received some education, 
and whose appearance and manners were rather pre- 
possessing, but who, though so young, had, by his 
great folly, and criminal waywardness, brought a 
heavy load of guilt upon his conscience, and subjected 
his relations to much shame and suffering. The letter 
is dated Dec. 23, 1842 : 

"My father died when i was about two 

years old. My dear mother, who still lives, and who 
fears the Lord, endeavoured to bring me up in His 
fear. I was sent to Mr. J.'s sabbath-school ; and I 
shall not forget the instructions I there received in 
my youthful days, while I have the power of memory. 
My dear mother used to direct my mind to the Scrip- 
tures, and especially to the book of Proverbs. She 
was acquainted with the family of Mr. L — , and used 
to send me to their house when I had got off any thing 
by heart from the Bible, when Mr. S. L. used to hear 



100 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

me and give me very good advice; which if I had but 
taken, how happy I might have been ! 

"At twelve years of age I was apprenticed. My 
master was far from being a religious man, and cared 
not how I spent my sabbaths, — whether I went to a 
place of worship or not. I forgot all the good advice 
of kind friends, and used to break the sabbath by going 
on the water, and pursuing many bad ways. At 
nineteen years of age, I left him, and was pushed into 
the wicked world, without any care for my soul. At 
this time I was working for a Mr. J. L — . Mrs. L. 
senior noticed me, and wished me to go and see her, 
which I did. She gave me some very good counsel, 
which, though I sadly neglected, I can never forget, 
and have often reflected upon it since I came on board 
this ship, and am grieved at my heart I have acted so 
contrary to it. That kind and very pious lady re- 
commended me to go to Mr. B.'s chapel; which I did 
for some time. But my heart aches when I think 
how I forsook the house of God, where I had found 
profit, — closed my eyes to the light, and my ears to 
the instruction of the Holy Scriptures, and of Divine 
ordinances ; and, although I was getting a very honour- 
able living at my trade, working for a good master, 
and might have done as well as any young man in 
every respect, yet I, like a madman, threw away 
every privilege and advantage, and brought misery 
upon myself, and on my best friends I brought sorrow; 
and most of all upon my mother! 

"I joined some wicked companions; was soon led 
into all manner of wicked ways ; became dishonest ; 



BRIEF NOTICE OF J — S— . 101 

got into prison; came out again no better; and was 
very soon taken up again for another robbery ; was 
tried, and sentenced to seven years' transportation : 
and here I am grieved, and now, I hope, humbled be- 
fore God. 

" Up to the night of Nov. 2d, when that dread- 
ful storm was sent by the Almighty, I continued, not- 
withstanding all I suffered, quite hardened, and as 
thoughtless as ever. But on that night I was very 
frightened, and expected the thunder and lightning 
were sent to destroy all of us wicked creatures, and I 
expected to die; but I knew I was not fit to'die, and 
should go to hell with all my sins on my head unpar- 
doned. The terror of mind I felt, I cannot tell. AH 
the day following my past sins stared me in the face ; 
and I felt I needed some one to save me from the 
dreadful doom which I richly deserved. 

"It was then I thought of Jesus Christ, of whom I 
had heard, but had almost entirely forgotten : and to 
the Lord Jesus Christ I was directed to lift up my 
soul, by my messmate, who lay by my side, and ex- 
horted me to search the Bible, that I might there 
read of His great love to the worst of sinners. I read 
the 1st, 3rd, and 15th chapters of John's Gospel ; and 
I thank and praise the Lord, I have found, to my 
soul's comfort and peace, Him of whom Moses in the 
Law and the Prophets did write, Jesus Christ, to 
whom I was enabled to come, just the vile wretch I 
felt myself to be; and He did not turn me away, but 
enabled me to receive and embrace Him by the faith 
He was pleased to give me. And now I love Him, J 
9* 



102 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

hope, and put my whole trust in Him for my salva- 
tion ! 

"I feel very weak and very ignorant; but I bless 
God I feel I get fresh strength as I am enabled daily 
to come to the Lord, w T ith humility, I hope. I sin- 
cerely thank Him for the great good I received through 
your instrumentality. I delight to hear you explain 
the Scriptures to us, and find great profit and comfort; 
and I trust through grace to persevere in this good 
way. And I believe that to all eternity I shall have 
cause to praise God that I was placed under your care 
on board the Earl Grey. 

"Please let me ask you to pray for me, that I may 
be kept holy, humble, and useful to my fellow-men. 
Oh, may I be a useful and a respectable man where I 
am going, and wherever I may spend my days ! 

" May the Lord support you under all your sorrows, 
and give you peace, and make you a great blessing to 
us all, is the prayer of your grateful, and humble, and 
obedient servant, "J. S." 

Of one thousand and sixty-five prisoners who have 
in five different voyages, been conveyed under my 
superintendence to the Penal Colonies of Australia, 
fourteen only had been educated at a sabbath-school; 
of which J. S — w r as one. 

His history reminds us of the duty and responsibility 
of masters in reference to their apprentices and shop- 
men. How immense the amount of good which the 
truly pious, prudent, and zealous master may be the 
means, through believing prayer and the supply of the 



REMARKS ON THE PRECEDING NOTICE. 103 

Holy Spirit, of effecting for those whom God has 
placed under his authority and moral influence! This 
is a subject which all masters are called to consider ; 
to consider in the light of Scripture, — in the light of 
the judgment day,— in the light of a guilty world on 
fire, and melting with fervent heat, — in the light of 
hell, — in the light of heaven— the light of an endless 
eternity ! 

We see what great benefit one messmate, — one fel- 
low-apprentice, or fellow servant, — one shipmate, or 
comrade, — one schoolfellow, — one acquaintance, or 
friend, — one fellow-prisoner, may, under the blessing 
of God, confer upon another. And we are solemnly 
reminded that God requires all men, in their respective 
stations in life, to be habitually on the watch for op- 
portunities of winning souls to Christ. 

The following short paper, chiefly relating to the 
change in this young man's views and character, was 
put into my hands by one of his fellow-prisoners, and 
although it repeats some of the statements contained 
in his letter, it appears to deserve a place in this nar- 
rative: 

J. S — says, "I have spent the whole of my life in 
the service of the wicked one, following after the 
pleasure of this world, and living without so much as 
a thought of my condition as a sinner in the sight of 
God. In this state I continued until I came on board 
this ship. I had no concern about my soul, or the 
course of sin and crime I had so eagerly pursued. 

" On the night of November the 2nd, during our 
voyage, we were visited by a dreadful thunder-storm. 



104 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

The lightning descended upon the ship, which ap- 
peared to be on fire; and had not the Almighty dis- 
persed the electric fluid, we must have perished. As 
it was, the visitation was very awful. I was so 
alarmed that I durst not stir, and every moment I 
expected death! In this state I continued for some 
time, fearing to die. A messmate who lay by me 
begged of me to pray, and to flee to the only refuge 
of sinners, Jesus Christ! I had never prayed in real- 
ity in my life. But now I was, I hope, for the first 
time, taught of God to pray from the heart, and to 
cry out, 'God be merciful to me a sinner!' ' I w 7 as 
very unhappy for some days; but still I prayed that 
I might know Jesus Christ, and put my trust in Him. 
One evening, when at prayer, I felt something like a 
load removed from my heart, and I was enabled to 
come unto the Saviour, who promised that He would 
in nowise cast out any that come unto Him. I was 
deeply wounded on account of my past wickedness; 
but I was glad in Him who died to save sinners. I 
had an humble hope that He died for me, even for 
me! 

"I desire still to cleave unto the Lord, and to love 
and serve Him who has done so much for me. I 
thank God my soul is often refreshed by the worship 
of the Lord on board. The Bible I once disregarded 
I now love. I am truly thankful I ever came on 
board this ship. God's providence directed me here. 
I trust never to forget the kind instructions I daily 
receive on board the Earl Grey: I thank the Lord 
for the officer placed over us. May I, through grace, 



HIS CONSISTENT CHARACTER. 105 

be enabled to go on in the strength of Jesus Christ, 
as one of His true and devoted followers!" 

This young man, from the day his heart was opened 
to receive the Gospel, up to the day he landed in the 
colony, was enabled to maintain a most consistent and 
irreproachable character. 



106 THE CONVICT SHIP. 



CHAPTER V. 

More earnest prayer for the promised gift of the Holy Spirit— Hospital 
patients, J. H., W. C, T. G., and John Walker— Written statements 
from James B., Robert T., R. R— k. 

Notwithstanding that we had now great cause of 
gratitude and praise to the God of all grace for His 
infinite mercy vouchsafed to so many of the prisoners, 
through the knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ, and 
were daily sent to His footstool to adore Him for the 
manifestations of His love and pardoning mercy to one 
prisoner after another, and although nearly the whole 
of the people seemed more or less under Divine in- 
fluence, and concerned for their best interests, yet the 
consideration that so many still afforded no decided 
evidence of being " brought to themselves," and of 
turning heart and feet towards their Father's house, 
tended to fill the mind with deep anxiety, to excite to 
more earnest, wrestling prayer for the farther outpour- 
ing of the Holy Spirit, and to call forth still greater 
efforts to instruct them in the Holy Scriptures, and to 
urge upon their consciences their responsibility and 
spiritual danger. 

On Tuesday, Dec. 28, at two o'clock in the after- 
noon, the people were assembled below for extra ex- 



EXAMINATION OF PRISONERS. 107 

amination on their possession of saving knowledge. 
Before our catechetical exercises commenced, we were 
incidentally led to address the whole of the prisoners, 
on Christianity viewed under the aspect it wears to con- 
victs, and to impress upon them not only that all they 
have to comfort and sustain them in their sufferings, 
during the remainder of their life, and in the hour of 
death, is to be found in the Divine system of Chris- 
tianity ; but that it tends to make all who are brought 
under its sanctifying power, kind and faithful friends 
to them. Men of the world may treat them harshly^ 
and at this they must not be surprised, but submit 
without even "answering again;" but real Christians 
will ever, when acting in character, deal with them 
truly and tenderly, and will seek to promote their truest 
happiness. They were solemnly cautioned against 
professing Christianity hypocritically, or merely for 
the sake of any worldly advantage. We learn, in- 
deed, from the Scriptures, the immense advantages 
which even in this life, are infallibly secured to all who, 
in very deed, are vitally united by faith to Jesus 
Christ ; because " godliness is profitable unto all things, 
having the promise of the life that now is," as well 
as "of that which is to come."* But it is the Lord 
Himself we are urged to choose as our present and 
eternal inheritance; while we are faithfully reminded, 
that if any man will live godly in Christ Jesus, he shall 
suffer persecution ; and that it is through much tribu- 
lation that Christians are to enter the kingdom of 
God. 

" 1 Tim, it. 8, .„ ; . 



108 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



Our catechetical examinations became more and 
more interesting ; tending greatly to increase my ac- 
quaintance with the spiritual wants, as well as the at- 
tainments, of the people; and enabling them to make 
a more just estimate of themselves. These examina- 
tions seemed not only deeply to excite the interest of 
the people, but to afford them much more distinct and 
available knowledge than mere lectures and addresses. 

My hospital, at this time, presented a most interest- 
ing, and really affecting appearance. Each of its six 
sleeping-berths was occupied by a patient from the 
prisoners. In one berth lay a most unhappy young 
man, named J — H — , who was a source of great 
vexation and perplexity to me during the last two thirds 
of the voyage. He was excessively ignorant; of a 
most wayward disposition ; indolent in the extreme ; 
irregular in his habits ; and ever ready to break through 
established regulations. At length, his depravity 
having assumed a most unhappy and threatening as- 
pect, he became, in my view, a proper subject for hos- 
pital care and watchfulness. 

I often reasoned kindly and solemnly with this man, 
with the hope of bringing him to a right state of mind ; 
and the most intelligent of the prisoners, who had some 
influence over him, often exerted themselves to bring 
him to think and act aright; but all in vain. To 
speak to him seemed speaking to the air. His mind 
was fortified against all the arguments of reason, and 
all the declarations, threatenings, and promises of Di- 
vine revelation ; — and his conscience seemed lulled into 
the sleep of death ! He had been brought up amongst 



NOTICE OF J — H — . 109 

a people who had filled his mind with prejudices 
against the word of God. For the one and only- 
object of Divine worship and adoration, the great Je- 
hovah, he had been taught to substitute myriads of 
created beings, male and female, who themselves were 
called into existence to give glory to God, not to rob 
Him of His due ; and who have no power to deliver, 
even if they could hear his idolatrous cry. For the 
absolution of his sins, he had been directed to look also 
to sinful creatures, who can neither absolve themselves 
nor the unhappy beings whom they delude ; and who, 
by their daring presumption, only augment the fearful 
amount of their guilt, while they consign to perdition 
the souls whom they deceive. The thought of a sim- 
ple, direct, and believing application to the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Divine and only High Priest of the one 
Church of the living God, for pardon, peace, and ac- 
ceptance with God, was one wholly alien to his mis- 
led and benighted mind. The kingdom of God, which 
consisteth not in meat and drink, but in righteousness, 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, he seemed to have 
been religiously instructed devoutly to oppose! In a 
word, he was in the trammels of a system which is 
diametrically opposed to the revealed will of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Great Head of the Church; a system 
which substitutes the doctrines, ordinances, and com- 
mandments of men for those of God ; and which tends 
ignominiously to prostrate the human mind, to destroy 
the bonds of social confidence, and to engender all that 
is oppressive, cruel, and revolting; a system which is 
inimical to the best interests of society, to the prospe- 
10 



110 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

rity of any country, the security of any Government, 
and the stability of any earthly empire; which origi- 
nated in darkness, tends to darkness, loves darkness, 
and hates that "True Light" before which it cannot 
stand; a system from the entanglements of which it 
is the purest benevolence to afford deliverance. 

Let the people of God, in fervent prayer and de- 
vout adherence to inspired truth, watch against the 
wiles of Satan, the father of lies, as he is now stealthily 
manifesting himself among us as an angel of light, 
spreading his net with consummate art, to entrap the 
unstable of every class, particularly those persons 
whose pride and vanity, w r hose feelings and imagina- 
tions, render them peculiarly liable to be taken in his 
toils, and as peculiarly fit to become his instruments 
in the fearful work of entangling souls, and ensuring 
their everlasting perdition. 

Here is the consolation of the saints: "When the 
enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord 
shall lift up a standard against him."* And the 
" man of sin," that " wicked one," the whole "mystery 
of iniquity," "shall the Lord consume with the Spirit 
of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of 
His coming."! 

How different the character, condition, and hopes 
of the remaining five men, who, at this time, occupied 
the other berths in my hospital, to those of poor J. 
H — ; whom we could only pity and pray for, while 
we used every means to impart good both to his body 
and his soul. 

* Im. Ilx. 19, 12 Thcss. ii. 3, 7, 8-17. 






DILIGENCE OF W — C . Ill 

One berth was occupied by George Day, to whom 
we have already made the most gratifying reference. 
He always appeared humble, contented, and resigned ; 
grateful to God for the abundance of His mercies; 
frequently engaged in praying, reading, or listening to 
his Bible ; and ever happy in the faith of Jesus Christ 
his Lord. 

In a second berth lay W. B — tt, who was recovering 
from a dangerous attack of inflammation: his mind 
had been gradually enlightened by Divine truth; he 
always seemed remarkably contented, and experienced 
much spiritual joy and peace. 

• A third bed was occupied by a lad named W — 
C — , about nineteen years of age ; who had lain for 
a considerable time apparently at the gates of death, 
and whose recovery was very remarkable. Although 
he was one of those who did not know their letters 
when they embarked; and though he was cut off from 
his school and his book by sickness, for a considerable 
portion of the voyage; he was able, long before it ter- 
minated, to read the New Testament with fluency. 
The zeal of this youth was quite extraordinary. The 
book seemed never out of his hand. I have often 
been amused and gratified, on entering the hospital at 
night: W. C. was sure to wake up at the light of my 
lantern, and quietly slipping his New Testament from 
under his pillow, he did not close it till the light was 
withdrawn. 

His disposition was meek and amiable. He seemed 
to have been divinely taught the deceitfulness of his 
own heart, and to have been drawn by the cords of 



112 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

love to the feet of Jesus, there to confess his iniquities, 
and obtain the forgiveness and peace which His atoning 
blood alone can give. His conduct was marked by 
child-like simplicity, and uniform consistency, while 
he remained under my authority and observation. 

A fourth berth was occupied by T — G — , a man 
who had been of considerable use to me as a teacher, 
and who, from his sedate appearance, his manly car- 
riage, good sense, and habitually excellent behaviour, 
had obtained considerable influence amongst his fellow- 
prisoners. In a short note which he wrote to me some 
time before the debarkation took place, he says: 

"I was born at Ch — n, a small village in Warwick- 
shire; of honest, kind, and godly parents, who did all 
in their power to bring me up to love and to fear the 
Lord, and gave me a very good education, in teaching 
me to read the Bible with ease and comfort to myself, 
and to the approbation of those who heard me; a cir- 
cumstance which, in the early part of my life, seemed 
to yield them great comfort. But it pleased the Lord 
to deprive me, by death, of both my parents when I 
was yet young; and thus was I left without an earth- 
ly friend! But the Lord was a friend to me, and I 
was very well respected by all the good people in the 
village. On the Lord's day I always attended Divine 
worship, and was induced to join the choir, and play 
the clarionet.* I continued to be respected by the 

* I would remind Christians of the impropriety of employing uncon- 
verted men or women, to assist in conducting the music with which the 
church essays to worship God : a practice most unscriptural and una- 
postolic, converting immortal and accountable beings, (often the dissi- 



NOTICE OF T — G — . 113 

jood and pious people in the parish for several years; 
when I thought proper to enter into the marriage state. 
But ray respectability did not continue, for during the 
last six or seven years I have led a very wicked course 
of life, which began by my joining a band of musicians; 
a step which brought great disgrace upon my cha- 
racter; and I became so fond of music, that I was 
always at some club-feast or election; some wake or 
fair; or was at some public-house, playing at a ball 
or dance; by which conduct I greatly degraded my- 
self. Instead of being at my work as I used to be, I 
was never found there when I was wanted, and by so 
acting I lost all my business; and this proved fatal to 
me; for I soon found that I could not get work to do, 
and speedily I had no food in my house to support life ; 
and ere long, by this wicked course, I was led to steal, 
and soon found myself in the county jail: to which, 
for my first offence, I was sentenced for six months. 
"When I obtained my liberty, my circumstances 
were not improved, for the people saw no reformation 
in me. I could scarcely find any work to do, and 
was soon led again to break the laws of my country ; 
and for this I received sentence of transportation for 
seven years; — a sentence which took some effect upon 
my mind : but when I came to the hulk and saw so 
much wickedness, my heart became more hardened ; 

pated and licentious,) into mere musical instruments to be used in Di- 
vine worship. Bring them to Jesus, let H is spiritual reign be set up in 
their souls, and then, with the whole body of true worshippers, they will 
sing the song of salvation and praise, with a cheerful voice, and a sanc- 
tified heart 1 Cor. xiv. 1 5. 

10* 



114 THE CONVICT SHIP, 

for I thought if other people live in sin, I may live so 
too. But when I came on board the Earl Grey, 
under your kind instruction, and heard the gospel 
sounded in my ears, I began to see and feel myself a 
sinner, and that I needed a Saviour to pardon my sins, 
and to give peace and comfort to my guilty soul: and 
I have great reason to thank God that I was placed 
under your care; for it was by your prayers and 
reading the Holy Scriptures, that I was brought to a 
knowledge of that Saviour who is able to make us 
wise unto salvation." 

This brief history is full of instruction, and affords 
much seasonable warning and caution : 

1. It may warn Christian parents not to be satis- 
fied with any improvement in their children that falls 
short of conversion to God: nothing else can keep 
them from falling into sin. 

2. It is calculated to impress the minds of magis- 
trates with the awful responsibility which attaches to 
their office ; and calls upon them seriously to consider 
the probable effects of imprisonment upon the character 
and future prospects of those who are brought before 
them, those especially who are accused of some petty 
offence — their first, or second, it may be; committed, 
too, perhaps, (however unjustifiably) through the 
pressure of starvation. The question should be, not 
merely what does the law require; but what will it 
admit of,* as calculated to recover the offender, and 

* If the law of the land should not in every instance admit of the of- 
fender being wisely dealt with, our legislators are called to lay the matter 
to heart 



IMPRISONMENT IN T G— 's CASE. 115 

promote the best interests of society? If the man's 
history be duly inquired into and considered — if he be 
judiciously and kindly reprimanded and advised; a 
faithful subject may be preserved to the Queen, and a 
useful member to the community. 

If, on the other hand, the magistrate send the 
transgressor to prison, an immortal being may be 
ruined for ever! The prison may be to him the 
charnel-house of souls! The bolting of the prison 
door may be, in the relation of moral cause and effect, 
the barring upon him for ever of the iron gates of 
hell ! He is stripped of nearly all he most values as 
an Englishman. He feels he has lost the respect of 
his friends and neighbours, and of mankind, and there- 
fore loses all respect for himself. When freed from 
imprisonment, he is not freed from infamy, scorn, and 
self-contempt. The means of providing for his wife 
and family are gone ; and being a stranger to Chris- 
tianity, he is criminally induced again to steal; and 
the resu't is, that awfully destructive punishment of 
transportation — a punishment which tends, in ordinary 
circumstances, and especially if the transgressor be a 
woman, to the eternal loss of the soul. 

3. This case further shows us the importance of 
providing prisoners with suitable employment, when 
restored to freedom, until they can obtain work for 
themselves. 

Lastly: Let all men beware of forsaking or ne- 
glecting the duties of their proper calling: of associ- 
ating with companions, or indulging in habits, which 
lead to penury, dishonesty, and crime ; which involve 



116 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



infamy and suffering, and the untold terribleness of 
transportation, if not even death; and which habits 
tend to the eternal destruction of the soul ! 

The carriage of T. G. was most satisfactory, as far 
as my observation extended ; and it was pleasant to 
join with him in devotional exercises, for, as far as 
man could see, he possessed both the gift and the grace 
of social prayer. 

John Walker, a man who always appeared deeply 
affected and depressed by the disgrace he had brought 
upon himself, was the remaining prisoner of. the six 
who occupied the hospital at the time to which I re- 
fer. He had served for many years in the army, and 
belonged to a regiment of cavalry, in which he rose to 
the rank of troop-sergeant. He was in the battle of 
Waterloo, served for some time in India, and was en- 
gaged in the last Burmese war. Although he was 
only fifty-six years of age, he had a much older appear- 
ance; and his constitution had evidently suffered much 
from hard service and tropical climates. His tall figure 
(about six feet three inches high) and his military gait 
tended to arrest attention, and he became a special ob- 
ject of observation, by invariably taking up his posi- 
tion at church close to the after-side of the mainmast, 
against which he leaned, preferring to stand during the 
whole time of Divine worship; and being very deaf, he 
kept his hand behind his ear to facilitate the collection 
of sound. Among the prisoners on the quarter-deck 
he was, therefore, a prominent figure; and to all that 
was read or spoken he seemed to listen with an unre- 
laxed and devouring attention. 



BRIEF NOTICE OF JOHN WALKER. 117 

He occasionally suffered from derangement of the 
digestive system during the voyage, and on Dec. 1st 
was entered on the sick list and received into the 
hospital. It was then he came more immediately un- 
der my close and daily observation ; and no language 
of mine can describe the interesting state of his mind, 
or the satisfaction and delight with which I watched 
his progress in Divine knowledge and grace. He 
knew not the way of salvation when he embarked in 
the Earl Grey, and possessed no sound and salutary 
knowledge of himself. He stated to me that pride 
and ambition had been the ruling passions of his life. 
His heart had been set on nothing but rising in the 
army, and securing approbation and applause as a 
soldier. I had such respect for his feelings, that I 
could never so remind him of his degradation as a con- 
vict, as to inquire into the circumstances which led to 
it. The immediate cause of his transportation was, if 
I mistake not, some act of petty larceny. No conduct 
could be more circumspect and manly than his uni- 
formly was, on board the transport. And now that 
his heavenly Father had, in a double stroke, laid upon 
him His chastening hand, and was leading him by His 
word and Spirit to see his true character as a guilty, 
depraved, and helpless sinner, and to perceive the 
beauty and excellency of Christ, the suitableness, free- 
ness, and nearness of His great salvation, — disposing 
him to look up from the dust into which he had been 
prostrated, and by faith to behold His beloved Son 
suffering and dying upon the accursed tree as a sacri- 
fice for the sins of men, — I do not think I ever wit- 



118 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

nessed such a beautiful mixture of humility and self- 
abasement, with believing confidence, and gratitude, 
and peace, and entire resignation to the Divine will, 
as appeared in this worn and outcast soldier. It was 
an unspeakable pleasure to all around him to show him 
kindness and attention, and his deep and grateful sense 
of every kind service was at once gratifying to his 
attendants and illustrative of his Christian character. 
Although it was very difficult to converse with him, on 
account of his deafness, it was always most delightful 
to do so. No heart could remain unmoved under the 
contemplation of this old and once proud warrior, now 
exhibiting the spirit of a little child; looking to Jesus, 
as at once his fortress and refuge, and the almighty 
Captain of his salvation, — the large tears involunta- 
rily running down his weather-beaten cheeks, while 
he spoke of his blessed Saviour's love and sympathy, 
and magnified the riches of His grace. He marvelled 
at the movement of the wheels of holy Providence, 
placing him in the Earl Grey, to hear that blessed 
Gospel which the Spirit of all grace had made effect- 
ual to the saving of his soul, although he had so long 
despised and neglected it. Of this exhausted and 
emaciated sufferer it could be truly affirmed, that "the 
joy of the Lord was his strength." 

On arrival at Hobart, he was sent to the Colonial 
Hospital, where, under the tender and watchful care 
of the Christian medical officer formerly alluded to, he 
died, in the continued enjoyment of that peace which 
the atoning blood of Christ can alone impart. 

From this time my hospital was never without (wo 



NOTICE OF A CONVICT, JAMES B — . 119 

or three men, or more, who, taking the places of those 
now alluded to, appeared to derive their chief happi- 
ness from the enjoyment of God, in His word, and in 
prayer and other spiritual exercises. Never, in any 
ship, did I enter daily my hospital with such peculiar 
and happy feelings ; I ever felt I was ministering to 
members of the household of faith, plucked by the 
Eternal Spirit as brands out of the fire ; and consti- 
tuted monuments of mercy, that all who hear of such 
manifestations of Divine grace might be rescued from 
the sin and danger of despair, and throw themselves 
on the mercy of God in Christ, the Divine Head of 
the better covenant.* 

A notice of each of the prisoners on board the Earl 
Grey, who were apparently brought back unto God 
by the faith of His Gospel, could not fail to interest 
all who feel the value of the soul and a concern for 
the glory of Christ: but my unceasing and anxious 
labours did not afford me time to make memoranda of 
all the cases of reformation which presented them- 
selves; and even from those I possess, the limits of 
this narrative do not allow me to select many more. 

To one young man, named James B — , I must 
allude, whose entire life, from his boyhood till he 
came on board the Earl Grey, seems to have been 
filled up with vice and crime, and affords a most me- 
lancholy exemplification of that saying of the wise and 
inspired monarch, "One sinner destroyeth much 
good,"f and therefore inflicts much evil. Vast, then, 

* 2 Sam. xxiii. 5; Psa. kxxix. t Eccles. ix. 18. 



120 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

must be the benefits, which the conversion to God of 
even one sinner, confers upon his country and upon 
the moral world. 

After he came under spiritual instruction in the 
transport, his evil principles and habits seemed for some 
time to have disputed every inch of ground, both with 
reason and conscience ; and for several weeks he con- 
tinued to vacillate under convictions of right and 
wrong, between the bondage of sin and Satan, and 
the holy liberty of the Son of God; but after reciting, 
one Sabbath afternoon, the fifty-third of Isaiah, he 
began to cry to the Lord more earnestly than before, 
and continued daily thus to pray, until he obtained 
some measure of help and deliverance. In this way 
he went on until the fearful night of the 2nd of No- 
vember, when God's voice in the fierce thunderbolt 
met His voice in His inspired word, and made the 
guilty and wretched transgressor deeply to feel that 
nothing could avail him but " Salvation through faith 
in Jesus Christ" 

In a written communication to me, this young man 
gives the following account of himself: 

"I am a native of S — , near Huddersfield, and 
was born in 1819. I am a weaver by trade. My 
mother was a very pious woman, and took delight in 
sending me to the Sunday-school, and bringing me 
up in the knowledge and love of God. On the con- 
trary, my father was a very great drunkard and a 
very wicked man, and more is the pity. My mother 
died in 1832. Up to that time, I was brought up 
under the rod ; after this, my father got worse and 



NOTICE OF A YOUNG CONVICT, JAMES B . 121 

worse. Myself and a younger brother were the main 
support of the family. My father used to spend part 
of our earnings, and caused us to go short of food ; it 
used to grieve me, and I got so hardened that I 
thought I would not work any more, and I used to 
go gambling, and began to steal apples, and from that 
to fowls. After that, I thought it was time to give 
up such wicked ways, and that I would go to my 
married brother, and see if he would let me live with 
him. He received me kindly, and got me a job of 
weaving; but after a considerable time my father 
fetched me home again. I had not been there long, 
before I fell into my old thievish tricks, and got more 
wicked than ever ; so I went to one of my acquaint- 
ances, and we agreed to rob a public-house. We got 
away without suspicion : but after that, I never went 
to bed without conscience telling me I had done wrong ; 
every footstep I heard, for months, I thought was the 
constables after me. At this time I was about six- 
teen years of age. Well, I thought if I could only 
once more make myself safe, I would give up such, 
ways ; so I went to my brother's, worked very hard, 
and earned a great deal of money : but I took to going 
to public-houses and spending my money at cards, till 
trade failed, then I came to be in want of what I had 
spent at cards. I then got acquainted with bad com- 
pany, and started off on my old thievish ways, and 
became worse and worse. . . . The robberies I have 
committed are so numerous, that I scarce can describe 
them all. 

" Now all the time I was carrying on these wicked 
11 



122 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

and notorious deeds, 1 never once thought that I had 
a soul to be saved. I waited twenty weeks at York 
Castle, for trial, and used to go to prayers once a 
day, but was so very wicked, I could scarce tell one 
word after being at chapel. Till the time that I 
came on board the Earl Grey, I was one of the most 
wicked and thievish men in existeneer After I came 
under instruction I began to reflect on my past life; 
sometimes I would go- into my berth, and cry to the 
Lord to forgive my sins ; at other times I would go 
among the wicked prisoners like myself. I continued 
in that state, first thinking on my soul, and then on 
my sinful desires, up to the day that you gave out 
Isaiah liii. to be committed to memory. I was called 
on to repeat it on the quarter-deck. I was struck 
with trembling and shame after I came down into my 
berth and reflected on it, and I thought, — if so little 
a matter as repeating a chapter terrifies me, what 
would be my state if the Lord called on me to give 
an account of my sins? I then began to pray to God 
to forgive me my sins; and I prayed till I found, by 
God's help, that T could leave off all evil ways and 
shun bad companions. 

"I went on in this way till the Lord sent the first 
warning to us;* and then I found that nothing else 
would do, but to seek salvation through faith in Jesus 
Christ, seeing He is the only Name under heaven 
whereby men can be saved. After reading the "Ex- 
planation of the Lord's Prayer,"f I understood what 

* The thunder storm, November ^d. 

* Published by the Religious Tract Society, Paternoster-rotv. 



BRIEF NOTICE OF ROBERT T— . 123 

to pray for, and I never knew the meaning of it be- 
fore. 

"I thank God for placing me under your protection 
for instruction in His holy word ; and I have reason to 
think I shall be saved, through His calling me out of 
darkness into His marvellous light, for my entire 
thoughts are on Christ, and His salvation. I have al- 
ready experienced the difference between my former 
and my present state, for I find pleasure in reading the 
word of God, and attending to the promises set before 
me, and the encouragement to come to Christ, the bread 
of life, and obtain that bread without money and with- 
out price. In concluding, I beg leave to give you my 
thanks for showing me that there is forgiveness for the 
vilest of sinners, through Jesus, according to God's 
holy word. (Signed) "James B — " 

This youth is one of the few I have ever found 
amongst prisoners who received Christian instruction 
in a Sabbath-schooh Although he appeared to have 
resisted and forgotten that instruction, many fervent 
prayers had doubtless been offered for him by his 
teachers, which were now answered, as well as those 
of his pious mother. 

Our next notice is of a man named Robert T — , 
aged thirty-seven years. Although he had passed 
through many vicissitudes, he appears to have main- 
tained a respectable character up io a late period of 
his life; but after living happily for several years in 
the marriage state, he was brought into contact with 
people addicted to intemperance, by whose example 



124 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

he was much injured ; and the work of moral devasta- 
tion, appears to have been completed, by his entering 
the service of a master who gave his servants too libe- 
ral allowance of strong drink. It was while in a 
state of partial intoxication that R — T — agreed with 
some of his wicked associates to eno-age m a larcenous 
transaction, which brought him to prison, to conviction 
and to banishment. He says, "I thank the Lord, I 
took care of my family, so as to have my children in- 
structed, as it was my duty to do; and it grieves me 
to leave behind me a good w 7 ife, five dear children, and 
a comfortable home. My dear w T ife has, I believe, 
become a Christian since I w 7 as separated from her. 
And I thank God, that He hath so ordered it that I 
should sail in the Earl Grey, for I can truly say I 
have learned more during the three months I have 
been favoured with kind instruction through you, 
than I learned in all my life before; fori have not only 
learned to read better, but to love my Bible, and to 
put my trust in that dear Saviour, whom it makes 
known to us, poor sinful men. I hope never to forget 
the solemn warnings we have had both from fire and 
water, and also from the death of my fellow-men. I 
shall have cause to bless God for ever, that I have heard 
the Gospel from your lips. Once I thought that my 
outward good conduct was enough; but I trust I have 
learned, that I cannot be saved without true repentance 
and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust in the 
Lord to sustain and support me. I have no strength 
in myself to keep me from sin, and guide me through 
this wicked world, and to make me a good and useful 



BRIEF NOTICE OF ROBERT T . 125 

man wherever I may spend the remainder of my days. 
I have thought very much about you," [at this time 
I was suffering under an affection that threatened to 
prove fatal,] "and do feel for you in your present 
affliction. I hope the Lord will sustain you, and com- 
fort your heart .... Please, sir, I hope you will not 
be offended, and will excuse my free way of writing. 
This letter I could not write in the English language 
myself," [he was accustomed to speak in the Welsh 
tongue,] "and have got a friend to write it, but every 
word expresses the true feelings of my mind. I con- 
clude with wishing you every blessing both of Provi- 
dence and grace; and may w T e meet in heaven, where 
we shall sin and suffer no more forever, is the humble 
prayer of (Signed) "Robert T — ." 

This man was one of my most valuable petty offi- 
cers. To a staid gait and gentle manners, he added 
a most quiet and amiable disposition. Amongst those 
around him he exerted considerable moral influence, 
being admirably fitted to perform the office of peace- 
maker, and possessing unquestionable soundness of 
judgment, and the power of calm and patient inquiry; 
he was appointed a member of my " Court of Investi- 
gation" in which capacity he always did his duty to 
my entire satisfaction, as well as that of all the people. 
He exhibited in a remarkable degree the meekness and 
gentleness of Christ, united with great firmness in the 
performance of his duty. 

The history of Robert T — again warns all men of 
11* 



126 THK CONVICT SHIP. 

the incalculable evils involved in the debasing and 
destructive sin of drunkenness. This unhappy man 
keenly felt the severity of his punishment, the most 
insupportable poignancy of which consisted in the con- 
sciousness that he had brought it upon himself, by 
acts which at once dishonoured God, agonized the 
heart of his wife, deeply injured his children, and with 
crimson guilt stained his own soul. For ever blessed 
be the Lord for that Divine Fountain in which he 
found cleansing and peace, and which is ever acces- 
sible to the chief of sinners, who are invited and urged 
to wash therein and be clean, and live in holiness for 
evermore. 

To the Christian philanthropist and the Magistrate, 
the following short history of one of my men, written 
by himself, will suggest some important and practical 
thoughts : 

. . . " It pleased the Lord to bring my parents to 
the knowledge of Himself when I was about five years 
old. When six, I w^as sent to a Sabbath-school. In 
1819, the Lord visited the school I then attended, with 
a revival of religion ; and I thank God I trust 1 then 
felt, in some degree its influence. After being a scho- 
lar about six years, I was made a teacher; and re- 
mained in that capacity many years. 

"I served an apprenticeship to my dear father, as 
a table-fork maker and grinder. In 1827,1 w T as mar- 
ried to a very prudent young woman, — an event w T hich 
proved a great blessing to me ; she w T as one of the best 
of women. She became the mother of six children, 
five bovs and a girl ; four of whom, I trust, are now 



BRIEF NOTICE OF R. R— K. 127 

living. Here I beg to state that the Lord called to 
me by the death of one of my children. Having to 
attend a meeting connected with the trade, I took my 
dear boy in my arras, and after caressing each other 
for awhile, I went to the meeting, but had been there 
a very short time only, when I received the sad news, 
that my dear son whom I had just embraced w T as 
nearly scalded to death! I made all speed to my 
child ; whom, after suffering about thirty hours, it 
pleased the Lord to take to himself. 

"My clear wife it was God's will often to afflict, 
but I never heard her complain. In 1839, it pleased 
the Lord to take her also to himself; and she left be- 
hind her such evidence as admits of no doubt that she 
is now ' with the Lord.' In losing my dear wife, I 
lost my best earthly friend, and my poor children lost 
a most kind and affectionate mother. . . . With grief 
I must now 7 state how I forsook the living Fountain. 

" First, I began to neglect secret prayer, and very 
soon after to neglect also other means of grace ; and 
last of all, 1 gave up the perusal of my Bible. Then 
came trouble upon trouble ; and I, trusting to my own 
strength, alas! alas! fell; and great was my fall. 

"My trade became very bad, and I became entan- 
gled in many difficulties; and instead of returning to 
Christ, alas! I took to the use of intoxicating liquors- 
To attempt to describe my feelings at times, w T hen re- 
turning home to my dear children, is out of the ques- 
tion ; it is impossible. May the Lord pardon all my 
past sins! Oh, how thankful ought I to be that He 
did not then cut me off! 



128 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

" During the end of 1840, and beginning of 1841, 
I was entirely out of employment. What I and my 
clear children suffered that winter, the Lord and w e 
only know! I was willing to work at any kind of 
employment, but could not get a job. I applied to a 
certain gentleman, who gave me some labouring work 
to perform. I received one shilling a day for twelve 
hours' daily labour for the space of six weeks, and then 
I received sixpence in addition to my wages. I worked 
for this gentleman till the 24th July, when I asked 
him to raise my wages, and he told me he could not, 
as he knew I would leave him so soon as my trade 
mended. At this I was very much distressed, as I de- 
sired to maintain my dear family without burdening 
my father and mother. That night I went to rest, 
but my spirit was broken. I knew not what steps to 
take. The devil began to tempt me most dreadfully; 
and I, having forsaken Christ, fell, and committed the 
crime for which I am now most justly suffering. On 
July 28th I c mmitted a robbery, was made a prison- 
er, for the first time in my life, and committed for 
trial." [Ue\e he gives an account of a dream which 
appears to have impressed his mind while in prison, 
with views of hell, and of the agency of wicked spi- 
rits; and the dream ended with striking views of the 
power of Christ, and the influence of believing prayer. 
Awaking from his dream, he finds himself shut up in 
his narrow cell in York Castle.] 

"I was tried, sentenced to ten years' banishment; 
sent back to York Castle for a short time, then re- 
moved to the Warrior Hulk, Woolwich, where I re- 



BRIEF NOTICE OF R. R — K. 129 

mained about ten months; and then, thank God! was, 
in His good Providence, put on board the Earl Grey. 

"The Lord has here met with me in mercy; and I 
shall have cause to bless Him through all eternity for 
placing me under your care. Through your prayers 
and the Gospel proclaimed by you, my mind was 
drawn to look again to a crucified Saviour, and to 
grieve that by my sins I have pierced Him afresh. 

" To Jesus I am now humbly looking for a full sal- 
vation. My only plea before God is, — my Saviour 
died to save the chief of sinners! Oh, may my future 
days be all devoted to his service! The Lord has 
often been very merciful unto me, in saving me from 
death. My trade being a grinder, and our stones run- 
ning a t a great speed, if one break, and the man is 
not killed, it is considered wonderful. With me five 
stones have broken, and I still live! What a mercy! 

" That dreadful thunder-storm, which, by God's 
permission, visited us on the night of the 2d of No- 
vember, has, I trust, had also the effect of awakening 
my soul to prayer and self-searching before the Lord. 
Blessed be his name for overruling all these things 
for my soul's good ! 

" Now I conclude this poor account of the life of 
a wretched sinner, whose only hope of present and 
everlasting peace and joy is in the finished salvation 
of Jesus Christ. May He be still more and more pre- 
cious to your soul and mine, is the humble prayer of 
(Signed) "R. R-k." 



130 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

This narrative forcibly reminds individual Chris- 
tians and Christian churches, of the duty they owe to 
their professing brethren when reduced, by whatever 
cause, to poverty, or when they appear to backslide 
from the Lord, either in heart or conduct. 



PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL. 131 



CHAPTER VI. 

All Christians required to promote the knowledge of Christ — Reformed 
prisoners employed or this principle — Prayer and zealous labour to be 
conjoined — Death of Edward Marlow — Christmas-day — The Author 
yeceives a poisoned wound — More are impressed — Letters of J. 
W— n, T. C-y, and John M'D. 

It has long appeared to me that, in addition to an 
admirable efficiency, there is a most striking sublimity 
in the very simplicity of the means appointed by the 
great Head of the church, for the sacred purpose of 
diffusing throughout the world the knowledge of His 
truth, and establishing His spiritual reign in the hearts 
of men. To no part of the economy of grace has this 
remark more obvious reference, than to the obligation 
laid upon every believer, to use his influence to the 
utmost in making known that "glorious Gospel of the 
blessed God," which, through grace, he has received 
for his own personal salvation. It is written, Rev. 
xxii. 17, "And let him that heareth say, Come." 
These words constitute it both the privilege and duty 
of every individual who has heard the joyful sound of 
salvation through faith in Christ, to commend to his 
fellow-sinners the Refuge to which he hath fled, say- 
ing unto them, by example and conversation, by the 
fervent prayer of faith and love, and by tender and 
judicious entreaty, " We are journeying to the place" 
—the heavenly Canaan, "of which the Lord hath 



132 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

said, I will give it you. Come thou with us and we 
will do thee good, for the Lord hath spoken good con- 
cerning Israel."* It was thus that the first disciples 
acted of whom we read in John i. They tell each 
other of the Divine Saviour they had found, and bring 
one another to hear from His lips the words of eternal 
life. It was thus that the woman of Samaria acted, 
on experiencing the Divine power of the Messiah's 
words; she instantly went and called her townsmen, 
saying, " Come, see a man who told me all things that 
ever I did; is not this the Christ? And many of the 
Samaritans of that city believed in Him for the saying 
of the woman."f It was thus that the members of 
the Christian church at Jerusalem acted, when driven 
by persecution, from that city; "they that were scat- 
tered abroad, went every where preaching the word. "J 
And thus it is that every true Christian approves 
himself as salt appointed by God, to preserve from 
moral corruption and death all that comes under its 
holy influence. No encouragement, however, is given 
to private Christians to interfere with the office and 
peculiar duties of the scripturally-appointed minister,^ 
or to neglect the proper duties of their respective sta- 
tions in the church or in the world. The faithful 
minister of Christ will rejoice to find in every one who 
is rescued through his ministry from the bondage of 
sin, a wise, praying, humble, and efficient help ; and 
the multiplication of such helps will he regard as the 
most satisfactory evidence of the success vouchsafed 

* Numbers x. 29. t John iv. 28—39. \ Acts viii. 4. 

§ 1 Tim. iii.; Titus i.; Acts xx. 17, 38, 



APPOINTMENT OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTORS. 133 

by the Great Head of the church to his ministerial 
labours. 

Although the serious attention of the great body 
of the people had been for some time arrested by the 
facts and doctrines of the Bible, and although so many 
had given scriptural evidence that they had received 
Christ, and taken up His cross; nevertheless, daily 
close examination proved that there still prevailed 
amongst us a deplorable amount of ignorance of the 
sacred writings, and want of a clear perception of the 
plan of redemption. The nature and multiplicity of 
my duties not permitting me to labour for the spiritual 
interests of the prisoners to the extent I desired, and 
which their circumstances required, I felt myself called 
upon to turn to the highest possible account the 
agency of those prisoners, who seemed to have re- 
ceived the truth in the love of it, and to be fitted by 
spiritual gifts and graces, for dealing solemnly, faith- 
fully, and prudently with the understandings and con- 
sciences of their fellow-prisoners. 

Accordingly, the most intelligent, spiritual, and 
prudent of the people, particularly of the petty officers 
and schoolmasters, were spoken to on this interesting 
and momentous matter, and one of them was appoint- 
ed to every one or two messes, the members of which 
he engaged to consider the objects of his special care, 
with a view to the instruction of each in the things 
belonging to his present and everlasting peace. Thus 
the prison, to adopt the language of Dr. Chalmers, 
was localized, and not one of my people left without 
12 



134 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



a spiritual instructor, who charged his own conscience 
with the furtherance of their best and highest interests. 
In communication with these spiritual monitors was 
my efficient "help," W. B., who was in daily and 
constant correspondence with me. This arrangement 
was made Dec. 21st, on which day, in addition to our 
usual morning and evening meeting, we, to the great 
satisfaction of the prisoners, set apart an hour for 
spiritual exercises, from one to two o'clock, p. m.; 
and this practice the people, of their own accord, and 
with great apparent seriousness and the most pleasing 
outward decorum, kept up to the termination of the 
voyage. 

On the day following, the schoolmasters were as- 
sembled and solemnly addressed with reference to the 
spiritual state of their pupils, and were urged to take 
the utmost pains to instruct them in the fundamental 
facts and doctrines of the Bible, and the pious amongst 
the prisoners manifested a desire to meet together, to 
lift up their hearts in prayer for the outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit upon themselves and their fellow-suffer- 
ers : especially on such as were yet under the influence 
of the powers of darkness. 

Dec. 22d,* we had further evidence of several being 
deeply impressed. 

A few, who caused me painful apprehension, were 
solemnly and faithfully addressed as to their ignorance, 
folly, and danger; and means were adopted for more 

* In the remainder of my narrative, circumstances induce me to quote 
occasionally from my rough journal, and to give dates. 



SUPPLICATIONS FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT. 135 

efficiently advancing the education of such as had made 
the least progress. 

In the Acts of the Apostles,* we read of " certain 
lewd fellows of the baser sort," who hindered the 
work of the Lord even under the ministry of the in- 
spired Apostles. Among the prisoners in the Earl 
Grey there w'ere one or two, to whose understandings 
and consciences a very faithful and strong appeal was 
made from the text now quoted, and I trust, through 
the blessing from on high, not without good effect. 

Dec. 23d, besides our usual devotional exercises and 
examinations, the whole of the people were engaged 
for a considerable time in the evening, in the reading 
of the Scriptures, and in special prayer and praise. 
Our supplications had particular reference to the pro- 
mised influences of the Holy Spirit. Those who 
knew the Lord were again earnestly exhorted to work 
while it is day, for the benefit of immortal souls. 

It was the practice of the Apostle of the Gentiles 
to teach not only "publicly," but also "from house to 
house." The spirit of this apostolic practice admitted 
of introduction even into the internal economy of a 
transport. We could not indeed teach, " from house 
to house," but from mess to mess, and from berth to 
berth, we could ; and those who seemed most earnestly 
and devoutly concerned for the instruction and salva- 
tion of the people, were exhorted to be most fervent 
in prayer, and strenuous and prudent in their labours ; 
to converse quietly, unostentatiously, and in the spirit 
of fervent and believing prayer, with every member of 
* Chap, xvii, verse 5. 



136 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

the several messes assigned to their special care, so that 
there should not remain one man to whom the Divine 
plan of our redemption had not been explained, and 
upon whom the reception of Christ had not been close- 
ly and faithfully urged with reference to his immediate 
and eternal salvation. 

Dec. 24th, was a solemn and impressive day. 
About half-past one, p. m., all those who seemed to 
have embraced the Gospel, or who were inquiring 
after salvation, assembled in the ward, to unite in 
earnest prayer for the still more abundant effusion of 
the Holy Spirit upon us all ; and for the conversion 
to God of our fellow-sinners around us. I was able 
to be present; three successively conducted the devo- 
tional exercises, of whom two were prisoners; and I 
embraced the opportunity, to address all present from 
Malachi hi. 16, 17; Matt, xxi.22; and Rev. xxi. 17; 
with special application to our present circumstances. 
The Lord, I trust, was graciously present with us. 

But, alas! every scene under the sun is chequered. 
Edward Marlow, who served long as a soldier, and 
passed many years in India, is suddenly seized w T ith a 
disease, most obscure as to its character, and which 
bids defiance to all remedies. His hours are evidently 
numbered, and his mind remains enveloped in thick 
darkness. The most anxious and prayerful effort is 
made to exhibit to him, in the simplest and most en- 
couraging form, that truth, the reception of which is 
essential to his salvation. But he tries to cloak him- 
self under excuses, alleging that he is "not learned." 
It is attempted to fix two ideas in his mind ; first, " / 



AFFECTING STATE OF EDWARD MARLOW. 137 

im a guilty sinner ;" second, "Jesus is an all-suffi- 
cient and willing Saviour!" — Oh, how fearful is the 
condition of that person who delays to take refuge in 
Christ! How awfully dark is this poor man's mind! 
How successful are the efforts of Satan, on an unen- 
lightened and deceitful heart, averse to the holiness 
of Divine truth! How long may people sit under 
the most affectionate and urgent calls of the Gospel, 
and manage effectually to exclude every ray of its 
saving light from their benighted souls. At every turn 
we are reminded of the necessity of the omnipotent 
influences of the Eternal Spirit, without which, every 
soul of man must perish in the wilful and most sinful 
rejection of Christ, the unspeakable gift of the Father's 
love. Oh! when will men take heed how they treat 
the strivings of the Holy Ghost? 

Poor Marlow tells me he was often affected, even 
to distress, by what he heard from the Scriptures since 
he came on board; that sometimes he was under the 
deepest convictions and compunctions, but always ma- 
naged, after much struggling, "to get rid of serious 
thoughts and not to come to Christ." I continue to 
deal gently and truly with him; and, together with 
faithful and scriptural views of himself, set before him 
the clearest, most simple and encouraging views of 
Christ Jesus and His work. The poor afflicted man 
seems to try to look unto Jesus, and sometimes he 
seems to pray. He says he has been "a very wicked 
liver," and professes a desire to trust in the Saviour. 
Oh, how the dread of death distracts the mind, and 
gives not even one calm moment to perceive, under- 
12* 



138 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

stand, and believe the Gospel ! Is not the work of 
dying, work enough for any hour? Should any thing 
he left to the hour of death, but just to die? Should 
believing, regeneration, repentance, justification, sanc- 
tification, and giving evidence of our faith by the 
fruits of righteousness, be left to one brief, one agi- 
tated, one distracted hour ? Oh, the folly, the per- 
versity, the wickedness of men ; how incomprehensible ! 
Salvation brought to our very door, — free, complete, 
most suitable, — is rejected till the last moment of life, 
when the soul fears to put forth her hand, and lay hold 
upon it, (though still in mercy urged of God "to grasp 
it,) and so perishes in criminal unbelief! 

Life is fast ebbing; the eternal world opens on his 
view; the dying man "thinks he can trust in Christ 
for forgiveness." He "thinks," he can; he only 
thinks he can, and has scarcely power to think, at 
least with calmness. The state of his heart, his real 
treatment of the Saviour, is known only to Him "unto 
whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from 
whom no secrets are hid." We have no satisfactory 
scriptural evidence that he, by faith, laid hold on 
Christ — that he received the Holy Ghost, and was 
renewed in the spirit of his mind ; and, therefore, we 
have no satisfactory and scriptural proof, that he was 
a partaker of the great salvation proclaimed in the 
Gospel. We cannot take a step beyond scriptural 
evidence ; but this we know, " He that believeth on 
the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not 
the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth 



EXERCISES ON CHRISTMAS-DAY. 139 

on him."* And again, (C Except a man be born again, 
he cannot see the kingdom of God. "f And, " The tree 
is known by its fruit. "J This poor man's death was 
traced to the physical effects of a wicked and licentious 
life. His case warns us to beware of indulging in any 
sin, and to delay not for a moment our believing, obe- 
dient, and thankful acceptance of Christ and of the 
Holy Spirit. 

Dec. 2oth, (Christmas-day,) was the LordVday: 
our religious exercises were all marked by solemnity. 
Indeed a becoming seriousness has uniformly charac- 
terized the men when assembled at church, and they 
have always made good use of their prayer-books, and 
generally, if not unanimously, joined in the responses. 
A hymn w T as composed by one of the prisoners, to be 
sung on this day ; which, though it makes no preten- 
sions as to poetry, is interesting as the song of praise 
of a poor convict : 

A CHRISTMAS HYMN. 

Awake, awake! this is the morn 
On which the Lord of life was born; 
Now banish slumber from your eyes, 
To join the triumph of the skies. 

What charming news the angels bring — 
That Christ, our Prophet and our King, 
Was born to save our souls from death : 
Oh, blest for ever be his birth! 

When Christ in human flesh appear'd, 
What heav'nly music then was heard! 
The valleys echoed with the sound, 
And heavenly glory shone around. 

* John iii. 3G. t John iii. 3. } Matth. xii. 33; Rev. xxi. 27. 



140 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

All glory be to God on high, 
Proclaim the seraphs through the sky; 
Good-will to men, and peace on earth, 
The angels sung at Jesus' birth. 

Considerable portions of Scripture were recited by 
the prisoners in the afternoon. A young man who 
had deserted from the army, and who did not know 
his letters when he embarked, recited the Parable of 
the Ten Virgins with correctness and fluency. He 
now reads the New T Testament very well. The whole 
of the Sermon on the Mount was also recited by three 
prisoners. Some time before the hour appointed for 
church, all the people assembled, of their own free 
will, for prayer and reading the Scriptures; and in the 
afternoon they voluntarily continued together for a 
while, and listened to W — B — , reading M'Ewen's 
work on the Types. 

Conversed privately with E — d J — n, a lad aged 
18 years. He decidedly appears to have received that 
knowledge which no man can impart to his brother; 
and with his simple child-like spirit I was much pleased. 
He is a remarkably interesting youth, and of very 
pleasing manners. Like many of his unhappy com- 
panions, he appears to be most completely out of his 
place in a transport. He states that he is the son of 
pious parents, and that his mother is still living. 
Conversed also with a man named A — A — , whose 
heart, I trust, Divine grace has changed. He has the 
appearance of a respectable country farmer. I was 
greatly pleased w T ith his manners, and gratified by his 
spirit and conversation. 






TWO MORE CONVERTS. 



141 



In the evening the people are addressed on Edward 
Marlow's death, which took place this morning, and 
they appear deeply impressed. They are again forci- 
bly shown that the whole human race resolves itself 
into two classes — believers and unbelievers : the people 
of God by faith in Christ Jesus, and the children of 
the wicked one who live in sin and in opposition to 
the Divine will; and they are faithfully and affection- 
ately urged to make their choice. A choice they are 
making, but they are entreated to make that choice 
which accords with the dictates of true wisdom, and 
which will receive the approbation of all eternity ! 

A desire to ascertain the cause of poor Marlow's 
death induced me to get up at daylight, which was 
soon after three o'clock, (being the southern Midsum- 
mer, Dec. 26th,) for the purpose of performing a post 
mortem inspection. This duty I attempted to execute 
in most unfavourable circumstances, and, just as I dis- 
covered that the disease was one over which medicine 
could have no control, I inflicted a puncture, and, as 
I had reason to apprehend, a poisoned wound, on my 
finger. A fire was lighted as speedily as possible, the 
wound thoroughly cauterized, and other remedies 
used ; and with my arm in a sling I endeavoured to 
keep upon my legs, and proceed with my active duties, 
which had all along been intensely interesting. 

Though suffering very severely, I managed to spend 
some time in prison, instructing and exhorting the 
people. My life was now in jeopardy, and I knew 
not how many hours I might be permitted to be with 
them. Our subjects were, the first part of Ezek. 



142 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



xxxvii.; Job xxxiii. 14—24; xxxiv. 29—32, and we 
made seasonable reference to the Lord's special and 
impressive visits to us ; twice by the elements,— the 
thunderbolt, and the waves of the sea ; twice by death, 
— in the removal of Williams and Marlow. 

A young man, accused of neglecting school, was 
brought before me, with whom I had most serious 
conversation in private. He had now been upwards 
of three months under instruction; and our conversation 
closed with this solemn and kind demand ; — " Tell me, 
L — , what is there now in your character and conduct 
which furnishes me with matter of thanksgiving to 
God ? For what, in you, can I retire to my cabin, 
and fall down on my knees, and thank the Lord ?" 
The young man is perplexed ; he feels in a position in 
which he never felt himself before ; he is taken by 
surprise; he knows not what to say. At length he 
breaks silence, admits there is nothing in him on ac- 
count of which I can praise God; and acknowledges 
he has been a great sinner. Christ crucified is set 
before him. Shortly after, this youth gave evidence 
of being impressed by Divine truth, attended regularly 
the meetings for prayer, and so conducted himself as 
to warrant the hope that he had taken up the cross, 
and set out in that way of holiness that leads through 
the gates into the eternal city. 

Received several written communications from the 
prisoners respecting the state of their souls; and heard 
of many more being concerned about eternal things, 
among whom was one of my hitherto worst youngsters, 
J — W — n ; from whom I afterwards received the fol- 



TWO YOUTHFUL CONVICTS L, AND J. W — N. 143 

lowing letter. It shows that "the grace of our Lord" 
is as " exceeding abundant " now, as in the days of 
Saul when he persecuted the Church; and reminds 
us of that gracious truth, " In Thee, the fatherless 
findeth mercy :" 

" Sir, — I feel that I should make known to you how 
I am come to see, that I was a guilty sinner before God 
and man. Ever since that night of the thunderbolt, I 
was afraid on account of my sins, for they found me 
out ; but by your kind treatment and good advice I was 
brought to see that I was in the hands of mercy, and 
that the blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ was suffi- 
cient to wash my guilty stains away, and to make me 
a new creature in Christ Jesus. I was like Paul. I 
w T as a persecutor of the people of God ; but, thank 
God, through your teaching and the grace of God, I 
hope that I shall become a child of God. When I 
was about fourteen years of age, I first began to 
break out, insomuch that I left my home, and became 
so wicked that I lost all fear of God, and did not care 
for either soul or body, and I broke every command- 
ment of God ; but I hope that I have now found grace 
in God, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. I am 
led to see that any thing that I could do of myself is 
but as the spider's web. 

"My father died when I was a year old, and I was 
only five years of age when my mother died. I w T as 
left to the mercy of God ; and I hope that He has laid 
His hand upon me, and brought me to His one fold, 
and one Shepherd, Jesus Christ. 



144 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

" Sir, I would like to have a little private conver- 
sation with you, if it was consistent with your will. 
(Signed) " J. W— n." 

From the letters of prisoners received at this time, 
I select two more, which may be useful in pointing 
out to the young the first steps in that downward 
path which led eventually to prison and a convict ship; 
and useful also in strengthening the faith of parents, 
the fruit of whose prayers and Christian training may 
be delayed, even till they are laid in the grave: 

" Dear Sir,— I was born at C , in 1810. I 

was favoured with pious parents, who opened their 
house to the preaching of the word of God. I am the 
son of many prayers ; but, to my grief and sorrow, I 
have neglected to pray for myself. 

" Up to the age of eighteen, I was enabled to con- 
duct myself with propriety, and, I hope, consistently 
with my profession as a Christian ; but my parents 
died, and left considerable property, which caused very 
much disturbance in my family, and had a very bad 
effect upon my mind. One trouble brought on another, 
and instead of carrying my griefs to the Lord, who 
alone could give me peace, and support me in my diffi- 
culties, I madly took to drinking, to drown my sor- 
rows : but 'many sorrows shall be to the wicked,' — 
and so I found it, to my cost. I got worse every day, 
until I broke the laws of my country; for which I am 
now most justly suffering. When I was at the Justi- 
tia hulk, I thank God, I thought upon my ways, and 



J. W — N., AND T. C . 



145 



took to reading the Scriptures, — but am not able to 
say I was turned to the Lord and in Him relied; but 
since I have been on board this ship, I bless God that 
your kind instruction has been very useful to me. I 
believe, through grace, my soul is saved. I desire to 
come to Jesus as a guilty sinner ; I trust I have found 
peace in Christ. A little book you lent me, called 
6 The Two Apprentices,' was very much blessed to me. 
I have no other hope but in the finished work of Christ. 
I wish to love and serve Him, and may I enjoy His 
smile for ever. (Signed) T — C — ." 

"Sir, — .... My parents were pious; they did 
their duty to me, as parents ought to do to a son ; they 
gave me a simple education, and instructed me in the 
paths of peace. My father made it his duty to see 
that I always attended Divine worship, — likewise 
school: but alas! when I grew up, I began to turn my 
back to my parents and their instructions. 

"I was sent to a good master, a brass-founder, I 
stopped with him about a year; but Edinburgh, sir, 
you are aware, is a city where there are many temp- 
tations. I became acquainted with bad boys, left my 
trade, and turned a deaf ear to the many supplications 
of my dear parents. At last I left the peaceful roof 
that sheltered me from the storm, and went to sea. 
But I was always changeable: I left my ship after a 
voyage out to America, and came home Once more to 
my parents. I saw that I had been wrong, and I 
complied with the wishes of my father ; but, oh, sir, I 
am afraid to tell you ! — Satan is always ready to tempt 
13 



146 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

us, — I again fell into the snares of evil company. My 
friends disowned me ; I became an outcast, and a va- 
gabond on the face of the earth. Tired of such a life, 
I was resolved to leave my country ; and for that 
purpose committed the crime for which I am exiled. 

" Even after I knew my doom, I never once reflect- 
ed on my state ; I did not think on the God I had so 
often offended, till I came under your charge. The 
constant reading of the Scriptures, together with your 
kind instruction, brought me to think of my state. I 
considered I had a soul to save, and that it would be 
saved if I believed on Jesus. But when the Almighty 
visited us in his mercy with that thunderbolt, and also 
that sea we shipped, I then thought more of my situ- 
ation. Ever since those visitations, my conscience 
tells me I am a vile wretch, unfit to do any thing for 
myself but to come to the Lamb of God, who taketh 
away the sins of the world. I hope God will give 
me grace to come to Him, and never to depart from 
Him. 

" Sir, I have to return my sincere thanks for your 
kind instruction, and likewise for the Bible you were 

pleased to give me I will ever pray to God, 

to direct my steps never to go out of the narrow path 
that leadeth to life. (Signed) John M'D— ." 

On the following day, Dec. 27th, my symptoms had 
not improved ; yet I considered it my duty, and cer- 
tainly my great privilege, to be as much as possible 
at my post amongst the people, but was compelled to 
make large use of the services of W. B., whom I now 



GENERAL GOOD AND DEVOUT BEHAVIOUR. 147 

released from the duties of a schoolmaster, directing 
him to devote his entire time and energies to the spi- 
ritual instruction of the prisoners, with the view of 
"winning their souls," to Christ; and the most suita- 
ble among those who appeared to have dedicated 
themselves to the Lord were conjoined with him in 
this sacred work. In the evening I was absolutely 
not able to attend in the prison, but was informed by 
one who was present, that the spontaneous meeting 
of the people for reading the Scriptures, mutual ex- 
hortation and prayer, was truly affecting; that the 
prayers presented to God for me were most affec- 
tionate and fervent ; and that he never observed such 
a solemn silence in his life, as prevailed when W. B. 
was speaking to his fellow-prisoners. A great body 
of the prisoners appear now literally to live upon the 
word of the Lord and prayer; and the affectionate 
feelings they manifest towards me, and the deep inte- 
rest they take in my recovery, are truly touching, and 
almost too much for my strength to bear. Oh, may 
all these prisoners be Christ's free men ! 

Dec. 28th brought me no relief from bodily suffer- 
ing, which compelled me to remain in my cabin ; but 
in the afternoon an accusation was brought, by certain 
persons on board, against two of my men, which com- 
pelled me, at all hazards, to go down into the prison 
to investigate the report. It proved entirely false; 
and the well-sustained evidence I received of the good 
behaviour of the prisoners was most satisfactory. I 
took the opportunity to exhort all, and especially the 
petty officers and school-masters, to be habitually most 



148 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

careful of their conduct and carriage towards every 
person on board — to observe strictly our standing regu- 
lations — not on any account to quit, for a moment, the 
portion of the decks assigned them — to perform every 
duty with exactness and in the spirit of the Gospel — 
to watch against the appearance of evil, and beware 
of every thing that tends to bring a blot on Christi- 
anity, or afford gratification to the great enemy of 
souls. The good feeling, diligence, and zeal manifest- 
ed in the performance of their various duties, and, 
above all, the Christian seriousness which marked the 
spirit and deportment of a large body of the" people, 
were in the highest degree gratifying ; and though I 
returned to my cabin with aggravated symptoms, my 
mind was exceedingly soothed and encouraged. 

Between two and three o'clock on the morning of 
Dec. 30, I awoke in great suffering, and ascertained 
that the most threatening inflammation surrounded my 
wound, which began to ascend towards the trunk. 
My danger could not be concealed ; a fatal termination 
in such cases is a common occurrence, and I was war- 
ranted to regard myself as probably now drawing near 
to the end of my earthly pilgrimage. The circum- 
stances in w T hich I was placed in the Earl Grey were 
unprecedented both in my experience and knowledge; 
but I do not see that any good end could be answered 
by my entering into a detail of those circumstances. 
It is, however necessary to the unity of my narrative 
to state, that, being cut off from immediate communi- 
cation with my men, I had no alternative but to direct 
my removal to my hospital, where a berth was in- 



ZEAL AND AFFECTION OF THE PRISONERS. 149 

stantly prepared for my reception. Here I received, 
night and day, the unwearied and devoted attention 
of the prisoners; and nothing could exceed the zeal, 
the good feeling, and the sleepless watchfulness with 
which they waited upon me. They seemed to identify 
my life with their own. If any thing could be more 
gratifying than their kindness and sympathy towards 
me personally, it was their manly, consistent, and ad- 
mirable behaviour, without, to my knowledge, one 
single exception. The most fervent prayers were, I 
believe, with tears, offered up for my life and resto- 
ration to health, and to my post amongst my now 
afflicted people. Such of them as I desired to read 
the Scriptures to me, came to my bed-side, and their 
conversation and prayers were most edifying and 
soothing. Nothing could appear more opposite to 
the supposed character of a convict ship, than was 
the general aspect of the Earl Grey, as respects the 
spirit and conduct of the prisoners. I felt myself sur- 
rounded by people who feared and loved God, and 
were influenced by a Christian spirit; and their treat- 
ment of me was like that of the oldest, most faithful, 
and devoted friends. The power of the Gospel of 
Christ upon these men's hearts and minds was most 
manifest and afforded matter of earnest thanksgiving. 

The petty officers and schoolmasters continued to 
carry on the duty in my absence, and the routine was 
as regularly and efficiently conducted, as if I had been 
mingling as usual amongst them. 

Jan. 1st, 1843, was the Lord's day; and though not 
yet out of danger, and quite unable to conduct the re- 

13* 



150 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



ligious exercises of the prisoners, I was present when 
they assembled below for church. W. B. read the 
lessons and the sermon. 

After sermon, I was just able to say a few words 
to the people, with reference to the fearful language 
implied in the refusal of any of them to return to God 
by the believing reception of Christ: is it not this? — 
" I have resolved that there shall never be joy in the 
presence of the angels of God over byconversion! 
I have purposed that Jesus shall never see in me the 
fruit of the sore travail of his soul! It is my resolu- 
tion that the ranks of Satan shall never be thinned by 
my going over to Immanuel, and submitting to His 
authority ! My utmost I will do to frustrate His 
grace, and resist His Spirit! It is my purpose that 
the Divine Saviour who died upon the cross to make 
atonement for the sins of the world, shall never present 
me to the Father with exceeding joy ! You tell me 
of the finished righteousness of Christ; that God is 
just in justifying even the most ungodly who avail 
themselves of that righteousness; that He is beseeching 
me to be reconciled to Him, and that He is long-suf- 
fering to us-ward, not willing that any of us should 
perish, but that we all should come to repentance, but 
I have resolved to adhere to my sins, to retain my 
guilt, — to abide by Satan, and to perish with him for 
ever! — and, more than this, I propose that my ex- 
ample and influence shall continue to be such, as are 
calculated to induce the greatest possible number of 
my fellow-transgressors to put Christianity away from 
them also, and with me to eirlure the torments of a 



FAVOURABLE STATE OF THE PRISONERS. 151 

conscience, and of felt and chosen depravity, through 
the ceaseless ages of eternity ! " Such is the appalling 
language of the man who perseveres in the rejection of 
Christ! 

In the afternoon, the people assembled for recital of 
Scripture: thirty are prepared to repeat Luke xv., 
others are learning the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 
v., vi., vii. Many of my men come into the hospital, 
to converse with me about their souls. Oh, how does 
God overrule evil for good, and make even the wrath 
of man to praise Him ; although man's evil is still man's 
evil ; man's wrath still man's wrath ; for which he must 
give an account unto him, who shall in righteousness 
judge the world by Jesus Christ, Acts xvii. 31. 

There is an appearance of general concern about 
salvation amongst the people. A very few only seem 
hardened in iniquity, and even these are marvellously 
restrained from outward improprieties. The Spirit of 
grace and supplication appears to be poured out upon 
many, and an earnest desire to win souls to Christ. 
Several youths, almost mere boys, seem to have re- 
ceived the truth in the love of it, and are most strenu- 
ous in their endeavours to spread the gospel net, with 
great prudence and propriety; not presuming to teach 
those who are older than themselves, but giving useful 
information to our most experienced Christian men, 
respecting prisoners who are beginning to be anxious 
about their souls, or are held under some entanglement 
of the enemy, and whom these youths are most de- 
sirous to bring into contact with the truth. They act 
as a little body of piquets, whose watchful eyes guide 



152 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



the movements of our veterans in rescuing souls from 
the ranks of Satan. 

Jan. 2nd. — Visit the people assembled in the prison, 
and instruct them on the fearful tendency of an arbi- 
trary forgiveness of sin or of such a forgiveness as 
■would have no respect to the requirements of law, the 
claims of justice, the principles of sound government, 
the best interests of the universe, or the character of 
Him who pardons. They are also shown what are 
the essential elements of hell, and the essential elements 
of heaven. 

In the evening, a cloud was brought over- us all. 
Three of the youngest prisoners were found guilty of 
disobedience of orders. Disobedience to lawful au- 
thority being one of the most heinous and destructive 
crimes which any man can commit, the three unhappy 
offenders are placed before the assembled prisoners, 
and their sin, after presenting fervent prayers at the 
throne of Divine mercy, is made the subject of a serious 
and earnest address. All are fervently entreated to 
turn this act of disobedience — an act which was not 
repeated during the voyage — to the best possible ac- 
count, and to learn from it the character and tendency 
of sin, and the necessity of absolute conversion to God. 
" Satan must be disappointed ! he must lose his object, 
the lawful captives must be delivered ! Christ Jesus 
the Lord must have His own! Let all His children 
amongst us devote this night to wrestling in the most 
earnest prayer to God for the promised out-pouring of 
the Holy Spirit upon us all, for the conversion of these 
three offenders, and of all amongst us who have not 



ILLUSTRATION OF JUSTIFICATION. 153 

yet returned to the Lord by the belief of the Gospel. 
We are to agonize in prayer, and, as it were, to travail 
in birth, like the apostle of the Gentiles, till we see 
Christ, the hope of glory, formed in the heart of every 
fellow-sinner intrusted to our care." 

The unconcealable appearance of impression on the 
minds and hearts of the people cannot be described: 
dead silence, sorrowful or averted countenances, and 
other symptoms of sadness of heart, mark the depth 
of their feelings. All retire to their berths for the 
night. 

On the following day, (Jan. 3d,) though my un- 
favourable symptoms had multiplied, I visited the sick 
amongst the prisoners, and again earnestly exhorted 
the assembled people from last evening's painful but 
most instructive text. The night appears to have been 
in a great measure, if not entirely, spent in earnest 
prayer and heart-searching — by those at least who 
know and love the truth. The prisoners are examined 
on their knowledge of justification, sanctification, and 
the nature and extent of the redemption of Christ. 
Refer, for illustration, to a prisoner placed at the bar, 
— he is guilty or not guilty. If found guilty, he is 
condemned: if not guilty, he is discharged as innocent 
of the crime with which he was charged. All men 
are found guilty before God ; and are, therefore, con- 
demned — condemned to death! On what ground can 
any man be discharged ? not on the ground of his in- 
nocence, for he is convicted. He can be treated as if 
he were righteous;, and discharged from the bar, on 
the ground only of the obedience and death of His 



154 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

Divine Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, relied on by 
faith ; a faith which purifies the heart, and reforms 
the life. 

Jan. 4th. — All our meetings to-day were marked 
by peculiar solemnity. All who profess to be on the 
Lord's side, were exhorted to follow him fully — to 
beware of being ashamed of their Lord and His cross. 
Referred to Exod. xxxii. 26; Acts xix. 1 — 9, 20; 
Josh. xxiv. 14 — 28; 1 Kings xviii.2L, &c; Aclsxx. 
7; v. 13; Eph. v. 11; 1 Cor. xiv. 25. 

At our meeting in the afternoon, a solemn address 
was given on decision of Christian character;* espe- 
cially directed to those who seemed to have turned to 
the Lord. 

* Mark viii, 38; Rom. L 16; Acts xxvii. 23. 



DEATH OF ABRAHAM BUTTON. 155 



CHAPTER VIX. 

Death of Abraham Button — Brief account of A. J — , J. H — , A. D— , 
J. J — , and others— Extracts from Journal continued— Resolution 
adopted by prisoners — Meetings for social prayer — Arrival at Hobart 
Town— Prisoners' address to the surgeon superintendent — Number 
of apparent conversions— Farewell address — Debarkation — Prisoner's 
letter. 

The number of men who had been brought under 
conviction of sin, and whose inquiries after salvation 
had, to all appearance, issued in a believing reception 
of Christ, and in consistent and holy living, had now 
increased to eighty-one. These being assembled to- 
gether in the prison, are, in the presence of their fellow- 
sufferers, briefly addressed, as now sustaining the cha- 
racter of professed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
The by-standers are also addressed, and further pro- 
ceedings deferred to our next meeting, in the evening, 
when the portion of the Scripture read, after singing 
a hymn, was 2 Cor. vi. and vii. 1, together with some 
of the texts last referred to, on the duties and privi- 
leges of Christians. All are faithfully exhorted with 
reference to the duties which they owe to themselves, 
to their Christian brethren, to the people of the world, 
and more immediately to God and His cause in the 
world. 



156 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

An opportunity is taken to speak again on the sub- 
ject of temperance ; the evils connected with the abuse, 
frequently even with the use of ardent spirits; and the 
fearful dangers attending drunkenness, especially in 
the colonies. We explain the nature of the usual 
temperance pledge — " We agree to abstain from the 
use of ardent spirits, excepting for medical purposes, 
and to discountenance the causes and practice of in- 
temperance;" which was submitted to them on the 
ensuing day, for voluntary subscription by those who 
care for their souls, or even desire restoration to cha- 
racter and to virtuous society, and who have wisdom 
and resolution to enter into the engagement, and set 
to their names. The great body of the people cheer- 
fully enter into the proposed agreement. 

This has been a day of calm and peaceful enjoyment 
in the soul, and truly a great day on board the Earl 
Grey. I humbly trust that the Lord Jesus is ho- 
noured this day, and His rich and free grace magni- 
fied; — that there is joy in the presence of the angels 
of God over these sinners, who have this day publicly 
professed their adherence to His cause; and that this 
solemn profession will be found connected with a holy 
and useful life, and terminate in the full enjoyment of 
everlasting bliss. 

Jan. 5th. Abraham Button, a prisoner, aged 21 
years, died this afternoon. He was a quiet, simple- 
minded, inoffensive, and industrious man, had the ap- 
pearance of a hard-working country labourer; and 
was one of those prisoners who, since they embarked, 
appear to have been brought to repentance through 



FUNERAL OF ABRAHAM BUTTON. 157 

faith in Christ Jesus. His views of himself and of the 
Saviour were truly scriptural. All fear of death had 
been mercifully removed by the power of the Gospel 
believed, and he died in the soothing enjoyment of a 
calm and settled peace, his purified heart evidently 
resting in his Saviour's love. I communicated with 
him as often as I was able, and was always much 
gratified by his happy state of mind. He had made 
an open declaration of his faith in Christ several weeks 
before his death, which seemed to affect the whole of 
the prisoners, those especially who watched over him 
during his illness ; the character and spirit of whose 
attentions, united with the general tenor of their con- 
versation and life, tended to evince that their own 
hearts w r ere under the influence of Divine truth. 

Jan. 6th, the funeral of Abraham Button took place. 
While I previously visited the sick, the people as- 
sembled of their own accord in the prison, for devo- 
tional exercises ; and nearly the whole of them volun- 
tarily continued in prayer until the bell tolled for the 
funeral, when they all repaired in a body to the upper 
deck. The funeral service I undertook to read my- 
self; and on no occasion did I perform this solemn and 
impressive duty with more comfort in my own mind, 
though we w 7 ere all much affected by the deceased's 
death, and the nature of our devotional exercises. I 
had the most pleasing conviction that God had taken 
to Himself the soul of a Christian brother, whose body 
•we were committing to the deep, to await the morn- 
ing of the resurrection — when the sea shall give up 
her dead, and the bodies of the saints shall be fashioned 
14 



158 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

like unto the Saviour's glorious body, and made fit 
for an indissoluble union with the soul; that all the 
members of Christ, their everliving Head, may serve 
and enjoy God through the endless ages of eternity ! 

At the afternoon meeting, W — B — gives us all a 
very interesting and most satisfactory account of the 
state of Abraham Button's mind, both before and 
greater than mine; and his statements perfectly tally 
after he was taken ill. His opportunities of becoming 
intimately acquainted with the deceased were much 
with what came under my own observation. 

The people's attention is called to those texts, 
which set forth the state and character of God's 
children, and likewise of the ungodly. Further ad- 
ditions are this day made to the number of those who 
confess Christ. 

Jan. 7. — The people are again seriously addressed 
on the subject of temperance. Eight more of the 
prisoners avow their relinquishment of sin and Satan, 
and profess their devotedness to Christ and to holiness, 
through grace. Ninety of my people have now pub- 
licly avouched the Lord to be their God, and have 
professedly taken up the cross to follow Him fully, in 
His own Divine strength. They are very attentive 
to their duties, and seem to be under the abiding in- 
fluence of the Gospel of peace. W. B. occasionally 
reads to the people portions from "England's Ex- 
iles." 

The prisoner A — J — has been hitherto a source 
of great grief to me, and to the well-disposed among 
his companions. Nothing seemed to produce a perma- 



CASE OF A J — . 159 

nent impression upon his mind. The effects of the 
thunder-storm had gradually died away; and although 
he was much alarmed when the sea fell on board of 
us, — awoke from his sleep in a terrible fright, and 
came running to me in the hospital, in almost a state 
of phrensy, apprehensive that the ship w T as going 
down under his feet, — yet the impression made at 
that time also was permitted to die away. How true 
it is, that no permanent or saving change can be 
effected in the human heart by any cause short of the 
almighty pow T er of the Holy Spirit. At length, ob- 
serving the prisoner T — G — one day conducting, in 
prayer, the devotions of his fellow-prisoners, his mind 
was forcibly struck; and he could not help secretly 
exclaiming, What! T — G — pray! Can he pray? 
Has T — G — come to Jesus? and is he accepted? 
Then why not I? said he to himself, and burst into 
tears. He continued deeply affected; and throughout 
the night was in a state of great concern about the 
safety of his soul. Two or three of the converts to 
Christianity spent almost the whole night with him, 
successively or together, praying with him, instructing 
him, and endeavouring to lead him to Christ, who will 
not upbraid sinners, or ungraciously cast their sins in 
their face (James i. 5,) when they draw near in low T ly 
self-abasement to His feet. 

One of these men acquainted me with this poor pri- 
soner's case, begging that he might be allowed to see 
me ; and the result of my interview with him this day, 
and of my inquiries concerning hirn is, that I dare not 
refuse to recognise A — J — as a man w 7 hose heart the 



160 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

Lord hath touched, and disposed to bewail his past 
life, embrace the Saviour, and live according to His 
commandments, under the purifying influence of His 
love. 

J — H — , one of my most active and efficient petty 
officers, a man of great natural firmness, who has been 
most useful to me and to his fellow-prisoners, observing 
every thing that may be going on both above and 
below decks; and whose conduct during the voyage 
has been most unexceptionable, communicated with 
me to-day on the subject of his spiritual and eternal 
interests; and gives evidence of being brought back 
to God through the faith of His dear Son. This pri- 
soner is a very manly person in his disposition, habits, 
and carriage ; and the proofs of his sincerity are pecu- 
liarly satisfactory. Oh, I trust the Lord the Spirit is 
performing all this work ! If so, all will stand — even 
to the end. That which He does not do, will come 
to naught, and the spiritually convicted sinner will 
remain under an awfully increased load of guilt ! 

January 8th, The Lord's day. — A prayer-meeting 
was voluntarily held this morning, before breakfast, 
by all the professed followers of Christ. 

A — D — and J — J — used literally to hate one 
another, and were perpetually betraying a disposition 
to quarrel when below r . Observing J — amongst 
those who had professed to turn to the Lord, the mind 
of D — was arrested: he began to reason from J — 's 
case to his own, and thence to draw encouragement. 
The sight of his companion in iniquity, in the midst 
of those who had turned their backs on sin and Satan, 



EFFECT OF A MESSMATE'S EXAMPLE. 161 

and were enjoying happiness in the service of God, 
filled D — with amazement, and led him also to seek 
pardon, peace, and life at the foot of the cross : and 
now D — , as well as J — , is reckoned among the 
humble followers of Christ. Oh the triumphs of 
Divine grace! The whole mess (consisting of eight 
persons,) of which these two men are members, is now 
most happily changed in its character. 

Three or four of the prisoners have on three occa- 
sions lately manifested their purpose to adhere to the 
service, or rather the slavery of Satan, by placing 
themselves during Divine worship as far from the sound 
of God's word as they can, without (as they vainly 
imagined) exposure to detection. These men, when 
it happens to blow fresh, and there is much " tumbling 
motion " in the ship, are observed to be most terribly 
frightened, and get up to the top of one of the ladders 
on the weather-side of the vessel, which leads from 
the prison to the main deck; foolishly fancying, in 
their state of alarm, that they are safer there than on 
the lower or prison deck! Oh, the folly, as well as 
danger of living in sin, and refusing to come to Christ 
for pardon and peace, which would remove the fear of 
death and fill the heart with holy joy! 

I am told that none of the prisoners, not even the 
most thoughtless and depraved, ever showed the 
smallest disposition to absent themselves, or to skulk 
behind backs in the outskirts of the assembly, all the 
time my life was in danger. 

After dinner the people assembled in the prison for 
recital of Scripture : but I am compelled to employ 
14* 



162 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

W — B — , to occupy part of the afternoon in reading 
to the people from Angell James's Young Man from 
Home; a book which has deeply interested the prison- 
ers, and has been in such constant request, that it is 
literally worn out. This work, and the little book 
called The Two Apprentices, appear to have been 
really blessed to those who have perused them. — In 
the evening our subject of instruction was the Prodigal's 
return. Luke xv. 

This morning I received from three of the prisoners 
a written intimation of the change that has taken place 
in their views, and of their desire to unite with us in 
the service and worship of God, as His people; and 
this evening, my sufferings and excessive exhaustion 
having compelled me to retire to my cabin, I have re- 
ceived a note from W — B — , in which he says, with 
much joy of heart, that he believes " the Spirit of the 
Lord has been working upon many souls this day by 
His holy word. Since tea," he continues, "I have 
been beset by those who desire to have conversation 
on the subject of their soul's salvation. I am only 
sorry that I am not able to converse with every awa- 
kened soul to-night ;" — alluding to his being worn out 
by fatigue; for he is a very delicate man, and is much 
affected by the spiritual work going on around him. — 
"In the morning I hope to be able, through the Holy 
Spirit's aid, to speak a word of advice and comfort to 
all of them. I am sure you will unite with me, and 
with all who are acquainted w r ith these good tidings, 
in pouring out our hearts in earnest and believing 
prayer for the souls born of His Spirit on this holy day. 



INTERESTING CASE OF J — C — . 163 

Oh, that the Lord may pour out into our souls an 
abundant supply of the Spirit; that we may wrestle 
with Him on behalf of those who appear to be anxious 
to know what they are to do to be saved. I believe 
there are seven or eight, or more, who are now under 
deep and anxious concern about the safety of their souls. 
—Glory to God ! (Signed) W. B." 

A man, named J — C — , of rather feeble intellect, 
seems to be under Divine teaching, and most unex- 
pectedly to me, and almost to every body, declares his 
renunciation of sin, through grace, and devotedness to 
Christ. He has, for some time past, been diligent in 
reading books, calculated to make him wise unto sal- 
vation. During the first part of the voyage he was 
troublesome, partly from downright want of mind; 
but now he seems to possess quite " another spirit." 
Oh, how Christianity tends to improve all the faculties 
of the mind, and the affections of the heart! 

All my local labourers continue at their posts. 
Our "City Mission" is in full operation. 

Jan. 9th. — Much spiritual and anxious concern ap- 
pears amongst the whole of the prisoners. From the 
earliest hour in the morning to the latest in the eve- 
ning, private prayer-meetings are held amongst the 
people, while they guard against the slightest infringe- 
ment of our standing rules and regulations. Several 
of the worst characters have renounced their former 
habits and manners, and appear to be under the blessed 
influence of the Holy Spirit. At a very early hour 
one morning, W — B — is aroused by hearing voices 
in a distant part of the prison. He feels anxious, not 



164 THE CONVICT SHIT. 

knowing what maybe going on; leaves his berth, and 
creeps silently along the side of the ship towards the 
bow T s, from whence the sounds proceed. What is his 
astonishment to see there, three of the very worst of 
the prisoners, (one of them a most noted character for 
his wickedness, and a special cause of grief to the well- 
disposed,) on their knees; withdrawn to that part of 
the ship where there is the greatest quiet and seclusion 
from observation; offering up, in short and broken 
prayers, their deep confessions of sin, and their earnest 
cries for mercy, — pleading the sufferings and death of 
the Lord Jesus. Many of the people awakened by 
the sounds, stand round, in silent astonishment, to see 
these men so engaged. It seems to be indeed the 
very w T ork of the Spirit of God in their hearts. 

This afternoon we had a case of Christian discipline. 
A young Welshman was taken by surprise, and suf- 
fered himself to be betrayed into sin by speaking in a 
manner unbecoming the Christian character. He ap- 
peared very penitent, and evidently values very highly 
the privilege of uniting with us in spiritual exercises. 
He was solemnly, faithfully, and kindly admonished 
and "rebuked before all," as the offence was public; 
and he remains the object of kind and brotherly sym- 
pathy. The following texts were read on this occa- 
sion; Lev. xix. 17; 1 Tim. v. 20; Gal. vi. 1; Matth. 
xviii. 15—20; Luke xvii. 3, 4; James v. 19, 20; 2 
Pet. ii. 1, 2; 1 Cor. v. 4; 2 Cor. ii. 7. We are to 
study for edification, 1 Cor. xii. xiv. 

Eighteen men are this day added to the number of 
those who appear to have taken up the cross, and set 



HARDENED SINNERS BECOME CONTRITE. 165 

out on pilgrimage to the Zion above ! Thus the num- 
ber of professed and apparently sincere followers of 
the Lamb amongst the prisoners, has increased to one 
hundred and eight, Oh, what hath God wrought! 
For ever magnified be the riches of His free and Sove- 
reign grace! 

Jan. 10th. — My continued indisposition, and urgent 
official, as well as professional duties, oblige me to 
make much use of the services of the most pious and 
consistent of the prisoners. The evening meeting was 
exceedingly interesting and encouraging, and W — 
B.'s prayers most seasonable, scriptural, and consoling. 

There is something in the pouring forth of the heart 
of a prisoner in prayer, in the midst of his fellow-pri- 
soners, that is deeply touching and impressive. The 
minds of the people are evidently solemnized by the 
prayers of their former associates in crime — their pre- 
sent companions in suffering. The meeting concluded 
with a special prayer for the continuance of a work 
of grace amongst us; for the Governor of Van Die- 
men's Land; and for the Divine guidance of his Excel- 
lency's heart and mind in the disposal of the prisoners 
in the Earl Grey. 

All assemble three times a day for reading, expo- 
sition of the Scripture, and other devotional exercises. 
Their private prayer-meetings are generally held before 
breakfast, soon after break of day. Practical and im- 
pressive instruction is, this day, draw 7 n from Hebrew's 
vii — x. 

Jan. 11th. — At our meeting at one o'clock, p. m., 
the people, through M — F— P — , submitted to me a 



166 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

resolution, which, should it receive my approval, they 
had agreed to adopt, and of which the following is a 
copy : 

"We, the undersigned, prisoners by the Earl Grey, 
have resolved, should it meet the approbation of 
those placed in authority over us, to lay by a 
portion of our earnings until we have saved the 
sum of Ten Pounds sterling each, to be placed 
in the hands of His Excellency, the Governor of 
Van Diemen's Land, for transmission to the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer in England; as a 
practical expression of our sorrow for the injury 
we have inflicted on our country and on society, 
by our former irregular and illegal conduct; and, 
at the same time, as a small contribution which is 
most justly due from us, towards the defraying 
of those expenses to which we have most unhap- 
pily put our country and Government; and fur- 
ther, as a proof of the change that has taken 
place, during our voyage, in our character and 
views; as well as an intimation of our humble 
determination with Divine aid, to live and act, in 
future, as loyal and obedient subjects, and as it 
becomes reformed, upright, and useful members 
of the community."* 

I expressed my approbation of the spirit and object 
of this resolution, and promised to submit it to the 

* This document bears the signatures of owe hundred and thirty-two 
of the prisoners. 






ADDRESS TO THE IMPENITENT. 167 

consideration of his Excellency, Sir John Franklin, the 
Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land. 

Verily, Jesus was felt to be in the midst of us, at 
our evening service, according to his faithful word of 
promise. Never did I, at any former period of my 
life, receive such illustrations of the following texts, 
as since I embarked in the Earl Grey: Eph. vi. 18; 
Rom. viii. 26, 27; Jude 20. Observe, also, Isa. lxv. 
24; Matt. xxi. 22. 

We concluded with a fervent address to those who 
continue to put Christ away from them, — even now, 
at the end of the voyage — now that the hills of their 
new country are in sight! — the country in which they 
all, with perhaps one or two exceptions, are, from the 
unhappy choice of their past lives, destined to spend 
the remainder of their days! "Do you purpose to 
land on these shores the enemies of God, in the very 
act of rejecting His beloved Son, who died for you; 
and of resisting the Holy Spirit that seeketh to dwell 
in you? Do you purpose using your influence to cor- 
rupt and destroy the colony, as you have your native 
land?" The Gospel is again faithfully and affection- 
ately declared to them. They are urged not to frus- 
trate the prayers now offered in their behalf; not to 
live in sin and under sentence of death another hour, 
but this night — this moment, to flee to Jesus, and 
take refuge under the sprinkling of his atoning, peace- 
speaking, and purifying blood. 

Jan. 13th. — The prisoners appear most anxious to 
make the most of their remaining days and hours on 
board. They very frequently select for singing, por- 



168 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



tions of the olst Psalm. It seems well to accord with 
their own views and feelings. 

Conversed privately this evening with two very in- 
teresting lads, about seventeen years of age, who seem 
very anxious about their salvation, and express their 
desire to follow the Lord Jesus. Conversed also with 
a young man who appears to have wounded the mind 
of a fellow-prisoner by an offensive remark. He seems 
truly sorry, and offers a becoming apology to the per- 
son offended ; thus peace is restored, and both parties 
are edified. 

Jan. 14th. — After morning worship I proceed to 
the distribution of Bibles, Testaments, and prayer- 
books amongst the people ; in which I am assisted by 
my petty officers and school-masters. 

The following extracts from the letter of a prisoner, 
afford a specimen of the value put upon these copies 
of the Scriptures, as well as of the change wrought 
in his own heart: 

. . . . " Here like a penitent I stand, and here con- 
fess my sins: for the Lord has 'searched me out and 
found me,' Psa. cxxxix. ' Be sure your sins will find 
you out/ Num. xxxii. O sir! I am like the prodi- 
gal son, and like the lost sheep, and now I am found. 
.... I humbly thank you, and kind friends, for the 
books which they have placed under your care, to 
give to a sinner like me. If you had placed a large 
sum of money in my hands, it would not have pleased 
me so well as that blessed Bible which you gave me. 
I kindly thank you for it, and hope you will pray for 



ARRIVAL IN HOBART TOWN. 169 

About noon, the Earl Grey, through the preserving 
care and boundless mercy of God, safely anchored in 
Hobart Town harbour. 

An officer of the army, who is also a justice of the 
peace, came on board to visit me and joined in our so- 
cial worship in the evening, when he delivered an ad- 
dress, in which the men appeared much interested. 
He specified the temptations to which they would be 
especially exposed in the colony ; gave them seasonable 
advice, particularly respecting the use of intoxicating 
liquors, and earnestly exhorted them to become mem- 
bers of the Temperance Society. This officer is very 
much struck, and highly delighted with the appear- 
ance of the people. 

After prayer and reading of the Scriptures, J — 
R — , my inspector of schools, rises and begs leave to 
address me; and in a very pathetic and appropriate 
speech requests my permission to read an Address, 
which he describes as the unanimous expression of the 
sentiments of the prisoners on board the Earl Grey, 
without one single exception. The address is as fol- 
lows : 

TO DR. COLIN A. BROWNING, R. N. 

"Honoured Sir, — The thought of being separated 
from our friends casts a gloom over the mind ; but to 
be parted from one who has taken such a deep interest 
in our present and eternal welfare, is peculiarly painful. 

" As an officer, a gentleman, and a Christian, from 
the first moment you came among us in the yards of 
15 



170 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



our respective hulks, your manner to us has been that 
of a fond and an affectionate father to his long-lost 
and prodigal offspring. You addressed us, though a 
disgrace to onr friends and our country, and degraded 
in our own and the public estimation, as fellow-sin- 
ners, and as subjects of God's moral government. To 
ensure the instruction of our minds, you daily poured 
on our hearts a flood of comfort and consolation, from 
the encouragements of the Gospel to the chief of sin- 
ners. Your fervent prayers, we hope, have been 
heard and answered, and your instructions applied. 
You clearly showed us from Scripture, and" our own 
experience, the effects of disobedience and of a profli- 
gate life, and the connexion that subsists between sin 
and suffering. 

"By your unwearied exertions, the word of God, 
which comparatively few could then read, is now no 
longer a sealed book to any one of us. Self-govern- 
ment, and an implicit compliance with the lawful in- 
junctions of our superiors, have been inculcated and 
strongly recommended to our observance. Nor have 
our social and relative duties been overlooked or for- 
gotten, in the midst of your multifarious avocations; 
for whatsoever things are true, honest, pure, lovely, 
and of good report, have been set before us, and im- 
pressed upon our minds. 

" Confessing our unworthiness before God, we de- 
sire with heart-felt gratitude to bless Him for pre- 
serving us from the fury of the thunder-bolt, the storm 
and the tempest ; from the rage of conflicting elements, 
and the power of disease: but in an especial manner, 



ADDRESS TO THE SURGEON-SUPERINTENDENT. 171 

we praise Him for making known to us by His word 
and Spirit the way of everlasting life, through the me- 
diation of His dear Son, our only hope and Redeemer; 
and as we know your aversion to every thing like 
adulation, your conviction that all spiritual illumina- 
tion and improvement are alone effected by the Eter- 
nal Spirit — are fully aware of the dread with which 
you regard the very thought of referring to any crea- 
ture that which is to be wholly attributed to the Al- 
mighty power of the Holy Ghost — we would, while 
we thank God for your instrumentality, desire to 
unite with you in rendering to Him all the glory of 
all the saving work, which He hath been graciously 
pleased to accomplish in any of our hearts during our 
passage from England to these colonies. 

"We would congratulate you on your recovery 
from your late illness and imminent danger, and pray 
to God to perfect, in His goodness, your health, and 
to comfort your soul with the joys of His Holy Spirit. 

"We beg to express our warmest thanks for your 
patient, careful, and successful attention to the sick : 
for your earnest efforts to instruct our minds, to en- 
large our understandings, to extend our knowledge, 
to improve our morals, and to persuade us at all times, 
particularly during our present unfortunate situation, 
to be most attentive to our respective duties. For 
these, and for every other act of kindness experienced 
at your hands, we feel sincerely grateful: and deplore 
that any one of us should, at any time, have caused 
to your mind the slightest uneasiness; or should have 
done or said any thing to meet your disapprobation, or 
demand your censure. 



172 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



"Whilst we lament our misconduct and misfortunes, 
we confess the justness of our sentence, and beg leave 
to profess our attachment and loyalty to our Sove- 
reign, and attachment to her Government ; our reso- 
lution, by a willing submission to the laws of her 
representative in the colonies whither we are bound, 
to approve ourselves as reformed from our vices and 
follies; and we earnestly implore that Divine grace 
may enable us to submit in a proper form, to do all 
things as unto Christ Jesus. 

"We also beg to acknowledge the kindness of the 
Admiralty in providing for our wants and comforts 
on our way hither. 

"Honoured Sir, we cannot take our last leave of 
you without feeling a deep sense of sorrow, that our 
crimes were the cause of our meeting, and must also 
be the cause of separation, and that to opposite sides 
of the world, in all human probability, never to meet 
more on this side the grave ! Oh, may we all, 
through rich and free grace, meet in heaven! 

"We beg to be affectionately remembered to the 
kind and Christian friends and benevolent societies, 
who aided you in making so careful and liberal a pro- 
vision for our spiritual wants. May you all partake 
largely of the blessings, the peace, and the joys of the 
Holy Ghost in Christ Jesus : to whose care we commit 
you, and wish you, with all our hearts, a safe and 
happy return to the bosom of your beloved family, 
and to your friends! 

" And that the peace of God may rest and abide 
on you all, now and for evermore, is the unanimous 



TOTAL NUMBER OF CONVERTS. 173 

and earnest prayer of us all; in whose name, and by 
whose permission, I am, 

"Honoured Sir, your most obliged, 

"Most dutiful, and obedient Servant, 
(Signed) "J— R— , 

"Inspector of Schools. 

Submitted on board the Earl Grey, in ike Hubour 
of Hob art Town, January 14th, 1843. 

The address I received as containing an expression 
of the sentiments and feelings of the prisoners in refer- 
ence to their sovereign the Queen; her Majesty's re- 
presentative in the colony ;~ the Lords Commissioners- 
of the Admiralty; the laws under which they live; 
and to those benevolent societies and friends in Lon- 
don, Brighton, and other places, who had so liberally 
contributed the means for furthering their intellectual 
and spiritual improvement, and securing their highest 
interests. In this address I trace the power of Chris- 
tianity, and regard it as a tribute of praise to God, 
the giver of all good, and not at all to me, who am 
but an imperfect "earthen vessel," of which he is gra- 
ciously pleased to make use, for conveying to those 
men His written word, which is effectual through the 
Spirit of truth alone, unto the present and everlasting 
salvation of their souls. 

The number of prisoners on board the Earl Grey 
who have given in to me their names as professed dis- 
ciples of Christ, and are observed to regulate their 
temper and speech, their spirit and behaviour, accord- 
ing to the requirements of the Gospel, now amounts 
15* 



174 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



to one hundred and fourteen; exclusive of Abraham 
Button, who is believed to have entered into the joy 
of His Lord. 

The personal inspection of the prisoners in the usual 
way, and by the proper authorities, commenced on the 
morning of the 17th, and closed on the 19th. The 
registrar expressed much pleasure at the appearance 
and answers of the men ; and observed how striking 
were the effects produced on the minds, the counte- 
nance, and carriage of men, by even a few months' 
scriptural instruction and sound moral discipline. 

Our usual routine was conducted as regularly as the 
-state of my health and our new engagements would 
allow. The examination of the schools was finally 
closed, and the people's progress ascertained and re- 
corded. On the evening of the 16th, they assembled 
to receive from me their farewell address* and to 
worship God together for the last time on board the 
Earl Grey. 

Our last songs of praise were Psalm li. : 

" Have mercy, Lord, on me, 
As thou wert ever kind; 

And Cowper's hymn : 

"There is a fountain fill'd with blood, 
Drawn from Immanuel's veins: 
And sinners plunged beneath that flood 
Lose all their guilty stains." 

At three o'clock on the morning of Jan. 20th, 1843, 

* Part If. viii. 



APPROBATION BY THE GOVERNOR. 175 

the boats came alongside agreeably to previous inti- 
mation, when the debarkation immediately commenced, 
and was speedily and orderly conducted, in the most 
perfect silence. 

At the hour and place appointed, I made an effort 
to attend; when His Excellency, Sir John Franklin, 
inspected and addressed the prisoners, drawn up in 
open square, and spoke in high term of approbation of 
their appearance, and their behaviour on board the 
Earl Grey: he endeavoured to impress their minds 
with just views of the advantages they had enjoyed 
with respect to instruction and discipline during the 
voyage; and assured them that their future conduct 
would be expected to be in unison with the privileges 
they had possessed on board the Earl Grey. 

It requires a particular knowledge of the circum- 
stances under which the prisoners are about to be 
placed on shore, to enable the reader to contrast them 
with those from which they are now removed for ever, 
and information on this point I cannot attempt to sup- 
ply in this place.* For the present I would only 
observe, that it is perhaps impossible for us to con- 
ceive the feelings our prisoners experienced under the 
immediate prospect of landing, and when they went 
over the ship's side, and actually set their feet, for 
the first time, on the penal shores of Tasmania. 

For a period of four months they had been under 

* A letter, in the Appendix:, from W — B — , a convict often referred 
to in these pages as being a valuable assistant to me among his fellow- 
prisoners, will give some idea of those circumstances. It was written 
on the expiration of his two years' "probation" in the colony. 



17(3 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

the constant influence of scriptural instruction ami 
prayer, and of a system of intellectual and moral go- 
vernment, founded on the grand principles of Chris- 
tianity, and in unison with its spirit and precepts. 
They had all been eye-witnesses of the blessed effects 
which the knowledge, faith, and love of Christ are, 
under the power of the Eternal Spirit, able to produce; 
and these effects many of them had experienced to the 
praise and glory of God. If they follow the instruc- 
tion they have received, they will prove holy and 
useful men, wise to win souls to Jes : is and to heaven, 
by conversation, example, and prayer, and will be 
kept by the power of God unto the everlasting king- 
dom of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; but it 
will not be manifest till that day when God shall take 
account of His people, how many souls on board the 
Earl Grey were "born again"— bom of the Word 
and Spirit of God. 

This chapter I shall close with extracts from a 
letter, which one of the prisoners put into my hands, 
as he was about to step over the ship's side into one 
of the boats appointed to convey him and his com- 
panions to the shore. He appears to have availed 
himself of the light of the midnight lamp, and to have 
occupied his last hours on board, (which he was 
neither able nor disposed to give unto sleep,) in at- 
tempting to give utterance to a heart which was too 
full for utterance, and whose emotions must be far 
beyond the sympathies of those who have not felt the 
plague of their own hearts, nor experienced the sweet 
influence of pardoning love: 



EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM A CONVICT. 177 

*#**### u Allow me t thank you 
most sincerely for every expression of kindness I have 
received from you. I acknowledge with grateful love 
to the ever-blessed God, that to Him alone belongs 
the glory and the praise for every new-covenant bless- 
ing bestowed upon the undeserving and the guilty, 
such as we poor sinners are, through whatever chan- 
nel He may be pleased to convey His precious and 
free gifts, the tokens of His everlasting and unchang- 
ing love: yet I must thank you for all the kind and 
anxious care you have exercised towards us all, and 
towards myself, as an individual. It might have been 
with us as with many poor men in the like situation 
with ourselves, to have ' no man that would naturally 
care for our state,' as God's creatures, and as offend- 
ers against His holy laws. But thanks be to the Lord 
for the manifestation of His abundant goodness! Oh, 
sir, if I know my heart at all, I feel that it overflows, 
as it were, this night with sincere gratitude and love 
to my Lord and your Lord, to my Father and your 
Father, for all His goodness to my soul and body, and 
to us all, from the time we first stepped upon the 
decks of this highly-favoured ship. 

"What shall I render unto the Lord for having 
made you the instrument of good to my soul, and to 
the souls of many of my poor dear companions in 
affliction! I am sure, dear kind friend of us poor con- 
victs, your heart will respond, we shall bless and praise 
the Lord for ever ! 

" It is midnight now, and I feel that I could, did 
prudence not whisper, like Paul and Silas, break out 



178 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

into a song to my Redeemer, upon taking a retro- 
spective view of all the Lord's mercy and goodness 
which have followed us through our lives, and espe- 
cially during our voyage .... I felt, though nearly 
heart-broken by the thought of parting from my wife 
and child, — I felt, when in the hulk, such a strong 
desire to sail in this ship as nothing could repress, and 
I left no stone unturned to accomplish my object, so 
far as I was concerned, though very ill. But I see 
now, without abating aught from my sin and guilt, 
and moral responsibility, God would have it so. He 
intended good ; He had thoughts of peace and not of 
evil towards me, a then careless creature. 

" I bless and adore Him for His providential deal- 
ings with me. I thank Him, — oh ! I do indeed thank 
Him, this night, that He brought me on board this 
ship ! I cannot tell what He has done for me, through 
your faithful and affectionate instrumentality. But. 
He has brought me low at His footstool to exalt me 
in the righteousness of the holy Jesus, who is very 
precious to my soul : and in His dear name I can re- 
joice, some days, all the day long. Oh, sir, I believe 
that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ you 
and I, and many of my dear fellow-men here, will be 
saved, and when we get to heaven, salvation will be 
the subject of our praise : 

'Then shall we sing more sweet, more loud, 
And Christ shall be our song!' 

" May the Lord make and keep me very humble, 
and make and keep me faithful unto death! I need 



179 

not remind you that I have no strength to resist sin 
and gladly to follow my Lord, bearing His cross, but 
what I derive from our exalted and ever-blessed Lord 
himself. I feel it ! Oh, my soul longs to love Him 
more; — I long to be made useful to poor sinners! 
Oh, that I may have the opportunity ! I can do it 
in one way, I know, by showing forth the Saviour's 
praise and power to save, in my life and walk, spirit 
and temper. The Lord open doors for me to speak 
to my fellow-sinners of Jesus and His great salvation ; 
The Lord grant me w T isdom and a sound judgment, 
and a warm heart, and an enlightened mind ! 

" Oh, sir, pray for me, — I will pray for you ! I 
cannot forget you and all your kindness, and the kind- 
ness of your and our kind friends in England, who 
have taken so much interest in our welfare. Oh, do 
tell them, to the honour of our Lord, that one poor 
wandering sheep has been brought to the Good Shep- 
herd who laid down His life for the sheep, He loved 
them so dearly ! . . . I hope to meet with you, kind 
sir, where Jesus is ; and it will be heaven where He 
is ... . Oh, I feel a heaven in my soul when He 
dwells in me by faith, and visits me with His love; 
and He will never leave me :— He cannot — for He is 
formed in my heart the hope of glory : I dare not 
doubt it ! Blessed be God there are many more beside 
me! The Lord has His own sheep amongst us; — 
and now we must part ! I feel the smart. Blessed 
be that dear uniting love that binds us together! 

"May God preserve you homewards, and restore 
you to your family in health and safety ! I have been 



180 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

very much comforted by these words, as I have thought 
of you leaving us — the precious words of Jesus, which 
discover His relation to His believing people, and re- 
mind them of His never-ceasing care for them, — ' My 
Father and your Father; my God and your God!' 
I have been reading the twentieth chapter of the Acts, 

and found great benefit Excuse me in taking 

so much liberty as I have, in addressing to you this 
short letter before I quit the Earl Grey. Farewell. " 



CONCLUDING STATEMENTS. 181 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Concluding statements— Letter from Inspector of Schools — Summary 
of apparent good accomplished — Extract from a prisoner's letter, after 
he had been some time in the colony. 

In perusing the foregoing narrative, the reader can- 
not fail to be struck with the quiet, orderly, and su- 
perior behaviour of the prisoners, the punctuality and 
cheerfulness with which they performed the duties 
involved in our daily routine, and especially with the 
diligence and zeal with which they attended to the 
great and important business of their education. It 
will be observed that we had no infliction of corporal 
punishment ; a mode of dealing, at least with adult 
offenders, which generally tends but to debase, and 
harden, and to extinguish every remaining spark 
of virtue, self-respect, and manliness of feeling. It 
will be seen that the prisoners in the Earl Grey were 
governed by daily Christian instruction, accompanied 
with fervent prayer, and by uniformly kind and manly 
treatment, — that they were ruled by a consistent dis- 
cipline, which uniformly required a close and punctual 
observance of all established regulations; a prompt, 
cheerful, and courteous obedience, given on right prin- 
ciples, to every lawful command ; a becoming and re- 
16 



182 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

spectful carriage; and the habitual use of correct and 
irreproachable language in all their communications 
with each other, and with all men. Thus we have an 
additional illustration of the soundness of the scheme of 
instruction and moral discipline which had been framed 
during my former voyages, and which has been de- 
tailed in another work. 

"The entire management, as well as the medical 
treatment of the convicts," is very wisely, and indeed, 
considering that he is engaged on naval service, is 
necessarily intrusted to " the surgeon-superintendent," 
the only naval officer on board, who is also held re- 
sponsible for the care and expenditure of Her Majesty's 
stores; is commanded " to issue such rules and regu- 
lations for the promotion of good order on the part of 
the convicts, as he may judge proper, inserting copies 
thereof in his Journal;" and "to appoint from among 
the convicts in health, those whom he may think most 
fit and trustworthy to act as attendants on the sick." 
"As it is highly desirable to keep the minds of the con- 
victs as constantly and usefully employed as possible, 
he is to exert his best endeavours to establish schools, 
under such regulations as circumstances will permit;" 
is "to read the Church Service every Sunday to the 
convicts .... and also a Sermon ;" and, finally, is re- 
quired "to use every possible means to promote a re- 
ligious and moral disposition in the convicts. ,f The 
authority with which the surgeon-superintendent is 
thus invested, and the instructions which he is required 
to carry into effect, fully and distinctly determine his 
position in the ship, at the same time that they afford 



FORMATION OF SCHOOLS. 183 

the most gratifying proof of the interest with which 
the Admiralty regards the convicts, and the soundness 
of the view T s entertained of their condition and moral 
wants. Nevertheless I had to encounter obstructions 
to the performance of my duty in the Earl Grey which 
were comparatively unknown to my former experience ; 
and some important provisions of the system of ma- 
nagement already referred to, were thus rendered una- 
vailable, and its working less efficient, and far more 
trying to my mind and health, than on any former 
voyage.* Still, as already hinted, its character was 
fully sustained, and my confidence in its soundness and 
practicability strongly confirmed. 

The twenty-four schools into which the whole of 
the prisoners were classified, were kept in active and 
regular operation till nearly the end of the voyage, 
when some changes were made, more effectually to 
help forward those individuals who were still incapable 
of reading the New Testament with ease and comfort. 
The patient diligence of the teachers, and persevering 
application of the pupils, were most gratifying; and 
the active and untiring zeal of my Inspector of Schools 
excited my admiration. To him, to W — B — , to my 
chief Captain, to the other Petty officers and School- 
masters, and to many who were not called to fill office, 
I have cause to feel most grateful : and it will be an 
unhappy day for me when 1 find myself capable of for- 
getting them and their exiled associates at the throne 
of grace. 

* Measures have been wisely adopted to prevent, in future, any such 
unwarranted interference with the duties of the Surgeon-Superintendent 
as that to which allusion has here been made. 



184 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

My monthly examination of the schools took place 
in the manner mentioned in "England's Exiles;" but 
the formation of a Board of Examiners at the termi- 
nation of the voyage, as on former occasions, to wind 
up by a general examination, and award prizes, was, 
in the Earl Grey, morally impossible. The duty was 
therefore executed by myself, assisted by the most fit 
and intelligent of my petty officers and schoolmasters. 

A Table, showing the result of our final examination 
will be found in the Appendix ; it presents, also, a view 
of the state of education in my other ships. The 
number taught to write in the Earl Grey was un- 
usually small, and for this reason: — the number who, 
when they embarked, were unable to read, was very 
considerable, and a great many of them got on very 
slowly, and required extra attention. I could not, 
therefore, spare my schoolmasters, either to teach or 
learn to write. It was far more important that the 
whole of the people should be taught to read the Bible, 
than that either few or many of them should be taught 
to write. Those who desire to learn to write may do 
so in the colony ; but if a prisoner land unable to read 
the sacred Scriptures, the probability is that he will 
never learn. 

After the statements made in the foregoing pages, it 
is unnecessary to add many words with reference to 
the amount of good actually or apparently accom- 
plished, through the Divine blessing, during our voyage. 
The whole of the prisoners were, on landing, with one 
exception, able to read the Holy Scriptures; and, with 



SUMMARY OF APPARENT GOOD ACCOMPLISHED. 185 

two exceptions, they all landed in the possession of a 
Bible or Testament, and other valuable and instructive 
books : most of them received also a Prayer book. 

Even those who gave no decided evidence that they 
had received the truth in the love of it, received, never- 
theless, no inconsiderable benefit from the system of 
instruction and discipline followed out during the 
voyage; and though they may have hitherto, in their 
unbelief, put away from them the salvation of the 
Gospel, and thus increased their guilt and danger, yet 
the instruction they have received may, at some future 
time, either in health or sickness, be made effectual 
through grace to their conversion to God. 

The great body of the prisoners gave unequivocal 
evidence of improvement, both intellectual and moral. 
Their behaviour towards each other, and towards all 
on board, was highly satisfactory. Nearly all of them 
had, in some degree, acquired a habit of application 
and the love of useful knowledge. They became 
thoughtful, learned to command their temper, to be 
obliging and courteous, and, generally speaking, con- 
ducted themselves in a manner that would have done 
credit to any portion of the labouring community of 
England. With scarcely an exception, their conver- 
sation was remarkably correct and manly ; only on 
one or two occasions, during the whole voyage, did I 
hear an improper expression proceed from their lips: 
and I hesitate not to say, that I should rejoice to see 
every little community of men, whether at sea or on 
shore, characterized by a similar tone of decorum. 

With reference to those men [114 in number,] whose 
16* 



186 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



enmity to the Gospel appeared to have been subdued 
— who professed to take up the cross and to follow 
Christ, and whose temper and conduct, conversation, 
tastes, and habits, while on board, tallied with their 
profession ; we dare not doubt their convictions of sin, 
their persuasion that in the Lord Jesus alone they had 
pardon and life ; that they derived peace and con- 
solation from the truth which they appeared to believe, 
and that by that truth their spirit and conduct were 
influenced; but to which of the classes specified in 
Matt.xiii. they positively belonged, it is not for us to 
say: "They shall be known by their fruit." - 

They had no encouragement to act the part of the 
hypocrite; quite the reverse. Of such unworthy and 
perilous conduct they were constantly warned to be- 
ware, and were faithfully shown that the course of the 
hypocrite only involves him in greater guilt and 
wretchedness, and that his hope must perish for ever! 
But whatever maybe said of the sincerity or insincerity 
of any of the prisoners, in their profession of faith in 
Christ, and of obedience to Him, they must stand by 
the decision of their lives, and of the great day. 

Here it ought to be stated, that I never report a 
prisoner as a reformed character unless his spirit and 
conduct, and experience of the power of Divine truth, 
correspond, as far as can be perceived, with the re- 
cords and requirements of the sacred Scriptures. 
Were the temper and behaviour of some people, es- 
teemed respectable, who make a great profession of 
Christianity, and are regarded by many as Christians, 
to be transferred to one of my convicts, that convict 



EFFECTS OF THE PROBATION SYSTEM. 187 

I could not conscientiously report as being a reformed 
man. 

It has been hinted that the prisoners, on debark- 
ing from the Earl Grey, were placed in circumstances 
most unfavourable to the furtherance of their moral 
and spiritual improvement. 

The Probation system which has been for several 
years in operation in Tasmania, places convicts in 
masses of 300 or 400. And when we remember 
the lamentable paucity of faithful labourers in the 
Gospel in our Penal Colonies, the extreme difficulty, 
if not impossibility, of obtaining pious and suitable 
men to fill responsible situations at Probation Stations ; 
the character and habits of a vast majority of convicts, 
and their corrupting influence, when not placed under an 
efficient system of scriptural instruction and moral dis- 
cipline, we shall not be surprised if many of the pri- 
soners by the Earl Grey, even of those who appeared 
to have been reformed, should be again seduced for a 
time into sin, and subjected to punishment. In all 
circumstances the people of God need to be upheld by 
a Divine power. Severed from Christ, (John xv. 4, 
5.) they can do nothing. But there are special cir- 
cumstances in which they stand in need of special 
grace; and such are the circumstances in which the 
prisoners are now placed. It is indeed difficult to 
imagine any position under the sun in which a Chris- 
tian can more urgently need the never-ceasing watch- 
fulness and care of the Good Shepherd. The preser- 
vation of even an advanced Christian in such circum- 
stances would strikingly illustrate the power of Divine 
grace. 



188 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

Little, however, can be learned from the official re- 
ports of our prisoners under the Probation system, 
which can lead to any just and satisfactory conclusion 
respecting the steadfastness with which they adhere 
to the principles and requirements of Christianity. 
This they will strive to do in whatever circumstances 
they are even now placed, if they cleave to Christ as 
His true and humble followers; but when their proba- 
tion servitude is finished, and, in virtue of their " Pro- 
bation Pass," they have found their way into the 
employ of a godly and consistent master, they may 
endeavour, with increased probability of success, to 
carry their instruction into practice, and to evince the 
genuineness of their faith by the scriptural correctness 
of their lives. 

We can now only leave them in the Lord's hands, 
bear them on our hearts at the throne of Divine mercy, 
and implore the Great Shepherd of the sheep to take 
care of them, and to raise up spiritual and faithful 
men, who may lead them into a closer and more in- 
fluential acquaintance with the blessed Saviour in the 
cheerful and habitual obedience of faith and love. 
When we commend to God's fatherly goodness " all 
those who are anyways afflicted or distressed, in 
mind, body, or estate;" and when we implore the 
Lord " to show his pity upon all prisoners and cap. 
fives;" let us have a special regard to all despised 
and unhappy convicts, whether men or women; who 
should ever be the subjects of the most earnest and 
believing prayer. 

I am fully aware of the extent to which there pre- 



THE GOSPEL REACHES TO CONVICTS. 189 

vails a chilling, heartless, proud, and ignorant skepti- 
cism with reference to the conversion of a convict. 
But are the word and Spirit of God omnipotent? If 
the atonement and finished righteousness of the Mes- 
siah availed for the pardon and salvation of a Saul of 
Tarsus, a condemned malefactor, an Onesimus, of 
many even of the depraved Corinthians, and of the 
betrayers and murderers of the Prince of Life,* — shall 
they not avail for the forgiveness, purification, and 
life of a Convict — of every convict who believes in 
Christ, and honestly submits to his authority ? Why 
should not He who died on the cross to ransom con- 
victs, experience the promised satisfaction in present- 
ing them to the Father with exceeding joy ? 

It would materially aid us in forming a just estimate 
of that unhappy and degraded portion of the commu- 
nity, and in cherishing becoming sympathy towards 
them, w 7 ere we to think more correctly of the cha- 
racter and parentage of the whole human race. What 
epithets should we hear applied to the first offending 
human pair, were they spoken of as certain persons 
speak of modern convicts? They were united in an 
act of gross disobedience, in the perpetration of a 
theft — of a base, ungrateful robbery, a most aggra- 
vated breach of trust! W T ere they not detected, 
brought to justice, arraigned at the bar of their omnis- 
cient, just, and merciful Judge? and were they not 
convicted, and condemned to death? They were re- 
prieved, it is true, and a full, free, and consistent par- 

* Luke xxiii. 32—43; Acts viii. ix.; Gal. i. 23; 1 Tim. i.; Philemon; 
1 Cor. vi. 9—11 ; Acts ii. 37-41 ; vii. 51-53. 



190 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

don was provided for them; nevertheless, it was neces- 
sary that they should be banished — banished from 
their first happy residence, and sent forth into the 
wide, wild, and unsubdued world, doomed, by hard 
labour and the sweat of their brow, to eat their bread, 
until the earth in which they toiled for their sub- 
sistence, should receive their sinful and weary dust, 
in pursuance of the sentence so justly passed upon 
them. — (Gen. iii.) 

When we speak of convicts, lament over their folly, 
and condemn their crimes, let us remember the history 
of Eden; let that history duly affect our hearts; let us 
bear in mind, also, how closely our conduct and cha- 
racter resemble those of the pair in whose fall we are 
so fearfully interested ; let us recollect, moreover, that 
in all the rich, free, and covenant provision contained 
in Gen. iii. 15, the whole of mankind are most deeply 
concerned ; and that they are, without exception, in- 
vited and required to lay hold of all that provision, 
for present pardon and peace, for holiness of heart and 
conduct, and for everlasting life and glory. 



When prisoners on board a convict ship write to 
their relatives and friends, they send in their letters 
unsealed to the surgeon-superintendent, who — having 
thus had the opportunity to examine their contents, 
should he deem it necessary — seals, and despatches 
them. 

On our arrival in the colony, the prisoners in the 



CHARACTER OF PRISONERS' LETTERS. 191 

Earl Grey expressed to me a strong desire to write 
to their relations. I accordingly supplied them with 
paper; and their letters, as usual, were forwarded to 
me. Although their number was very considerable, 
I was induced to glance at their contents, for the pur- 
pose of observing what subjects had been selected, in 
addressing friends, from whom, in most cases, the 
writers were separated for ever; and having good 
reason to hope, that most of these letters were written 
out of the abundance of their heart, their character 
was certainly most gratifying. With very few ex- 
ceptions they were impressive sermons, whether long 
or short. They recounted the mercies of God vouch- 
safed to all on board; referred to the power of the 
thunderbolt, and of the waves of the sea, as expe- 
rienced by the prisoners during the voyage ; acknow- 
ledged their sin and need of a Saviour; set forth Christ 
as the only refuge of the guilty and the lost; and 
urged the relations and friends not to delay, but to 
flee to the blood of the cross for pardon and life, add- 
ing suitable exhortations on reading the Bible, the 
observance of the Sabbath-day, avoiding improper 
companions, and so forth. These letters reaching 
England, would, of course, be scattered over the 
country, among that class of the community to which 
the writers belong, and, with the Divine blessing, were 
calculated to enforce the importance of spiritual and 
eternal things, and of turning to the Lord by the re- 
ception of His Son Jesus Christ. 

From none of the letters to which I refer did I make 
any extracts. But from one which was written some 



192 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

time after our arrival in the colony, to a near relative 
in England, I am induced, considering that I can do 
so warrantably, to make a long citation; which will 
prove the more acceptable to the reader, because it 
was not written under the remotest apprehension that 
it w r ould ever meet the eye of the public. It will be 
in keeping, however, with the spirit which the writer 
evinced while on board the transport, and afterwards 
in the colony, if we use his letter to promote the cause 
of His Lord and Saviour more widely than he had 
contemplated. It was written at a Probation Station, 
at a considerable distance from Hobart, and was for- 
warded through the proper channel for transmission 
home. The extract is as follows: 

" My dear, — Thanks to the Lord, I once more am 
permitted to write to you in the enjoyment of excellent 
health, though in a foreign land, and in bondage, the 
desert of crime; a fact which I wish ever to bear 
upon my mind, and which, with the Divine blessing, 
tends to humble me, and render me comparatively 
contented in my present situation. 

a* # # I have found the Scripture declaration 
true, that I have a desperately wicked and deceitful 
heart, out of which has proceeded all that wickedness 
which man, or Satan, or my own conscience charges 
upon me, which to the Divine Being must appear ex- 
ceedingly sinful, and must have sunk me to the lowest 
depth of misery here and hereafter, but for the hand 
of mercy bearing me up, but for that Sinner's Friend 
who bled upon the cross, that the vilest of the vile 



LETTER OF A CONVICT. 193 

might have life, and might have it more abundantly ; 
but though man may deem me, and that justly, a very- 
scandal and curse to the earth, yet there is, I find, in 
God's word, one infallible rule by which I can judge 
of myself; viz., — 'They that are Christ's have cru- 
cified the flesh with the affections and lusts.' I trust 
I really do hate sin and love holiness. It makes my 
heart bleed to think what a rebel I have been, although 
I am but a worm! I am at times, I confess, rather 
dejected, when I think what distress I have brought, 

especially upon you, dear , and sweet child, and 

upon a number of dear relations and friends who 
loved me, and who, may I yet indulge the fond hope, 
still love me, though now an exile. Beloved friends, 
next to the deepest wound I feel in my heart, — the 
remembrance of my base ingratitude to God my Sa- 
viour, who had always been doing me good — (and 3 
oh ! may I always while I live feel its smart, rather 
than do such great evil again towards the Lord !) — 
next to this, I say, is the remembrance of the injury 
I have inflicted upon you. What I have passed through 
personally, is but a trifle to me : the sorrow I have 
caused you is my greatest grief. But I hope you pray 
for me. Your Saviour prayed for his bitterest enemies. 
So do as He did; bear me — all of you — upon your 
hearts before the Lord. 

"I am surrounded by very wicked men; but the 
Lord has kept me, and will still keep the soul that 
trusts in Him. There are a few, I believe, who fear 
His name, in this notoriously wicked colony. I have 
here with me some of my companions who came over 
17 



194 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

with me in the Earl Grey, to whom the instructions 
they received from our clear friend, Dr. Browning, the 
surgeon-superintendent, were hlessed. I believe they 
are Christians. They are walking in the fear of the 
Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. We 
often speak one to another of His great goodness to 
such bad men as we have been : and it is good thus to 
converse. Means of grace are not so plentiful with 
us, as they once were, and as you have them. Oh ! 

my dear , do prize them; and tell any, who you 

think undervalue or neglect them, to be diligent, or 
they may be deprived of them, and it will pierce them 
then, to think of former misimprovements. — 1 feel it! 
I do indeed feel it ! 

"My dear , the time will arrive when, if it 

please God, w r e shall have a prospect of meeting again," 
[alas, a feeble prospect!*] "At present, let us wait, 
and put our confidence in the Lord, who causeth all 
things to work together for good to those who love 
Him: 'Be still, and know that I am God.' May He 
grant us patience and submission to His will ! I trust 
my friends will not disown me. An over-anxious de- 
sire to increase my master's connexion led me into 
company, which brought on habits of drinking and 
* treating,' and led to my ruin; and, being heedless, 
like those at the 'Slough of Despond,' I fell in. Oh, 
that my fall may be a warning to all who know me! 
Oh, that I could restore to one of the best of masters, 
what I wasted of his property in profligacy ! But I 

* It is supposed that the proportion of convicts who return from the 
Penal Colonies to great Britain and Ireland, is about one in a hundred. 



LETTER OF A CONVICT. 195 

am content to suffer this banishment ; and on my own 
part this is the lightest of what I do suffer: I feel that 

I deserve ten times more. Tell Mr. , you have 

heard from his unworthy servant. I hope he is pros- 
pering, and that he will never give another journey- 
man the liberty he gave me. I say not these things 
to extenuate my guilt. Tell my dear — — ■ to be a 
father to my dear child as much as he can, and the 
Lord will not forget his labour of love. 

" Weak and prone to err, and constantly in the midst 
of the grossest and most terrible wickedness, I often 
tremble, knowing that I possess the elements of all that 
is evil in my own breast, which, did not grace prevent, 
would take fire, and then I should be capable of doing 
all that is soul-destructive: y«a, which would involve 
soul and body in wretchedness and ruin for ever! 
God be thanked, He has hitherto helped me; and, 
though beset with snares, still I stand a monument 
of His mercy ; and, 

! How can I sink with such a Prop, 
Which bears the world and all things upT 

" Dearest , my imagination takes wing, and 

carries me 18,000 miles across the great sea, and 
places me by your side in your own humble dwelling. 
The first thing that rises in my mind is, How is it with 
your soul's concerns? are the consolations of God 
small with you? Your health, — the health of my 
child — the manner in which you get your living, — the 
welfare of all my dear friends and relations, — are all 



196 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

questions I should propose, and are important; but 
my great concern is to know as to the health of 
your precious and immortal soul. The love of Christ 
is to the humble penitent the never-failing source of 
true comfort. Nothing else but the Gospel of Christ 
received into the heart by faith can give us a happiness 
that will remain uninjured by all the changing scenes 
of this changing life — that will enable us to rise 
above the trials and troubles of this world. This 
happiness alone is built on the true Foundation, and it 
will abide for ever ! It will not deceive us nor desert 
us in the time of need. Blessed be God ! I find it so. 
I trust you do; I cannot wish you a greater blessing. 
In difficulties and distresses this source of happiness 
will be our refuge and consolation, will outlive the 
ruins of a dissolving world, and our happiness will 
flourish through eternal ages. However tried, per- 
secuted, afflicted, tormented we may be, if our souls 
are under the protection of Jesus, nothing can hurt 

them. His peace, you know, my dear , is not 

to be destroyed by the varying circumstances of life. 
Peace reigns in the heart, where the powers of man 
cannot reach; it cannot fail us, it is fixed on the Rock 
of Ages, and will last for ever! . . . 

"To my deep regret (and I attribute my downfall to 
this cause,) I was not diligent in the use of all the 
means of grace, especially watchfulness and prayer, 
and have been wisely permitted to feel and to suffer 
the sure consequences of my own conduct. Once more, 
— it may be for the last time, — let me entreat all who 
profess to believe in, and follow Christ, to value pri- 



LETTER OF A CONVICT IN THE COLONY. 197 

vate and public means of grace. Though there is an 
inexhaustible fulness of grace and blessing treasured 
up in Christ for all who hunger and thirst after right- 
eousness, yet we often, like Hagar in the wilderness, 
sit weeping near the well of consolation, and will not 
lift up our eyes to see, nor raise our hands to receive 
from the Fountain of Life the waters of comfort, to 
the joy and refreshing of our souls. . . . May you, dear 

, draw from Him by faith, who is the Fount of 

every blessing, daily supplies; and the water He will 
give you shall be in you a well of water, springing up 

unto everlasting life. So prays your truly affection- 

„i e (( ^ # * ##*##?? 

It is impossible to tell with what trying severity 
transportation, though rendered by Divine grace sub- 
servient to the soul's everlasting welfare, operates on 
all convicts, and especially upon such men as the wri- 
ter of the above letter, — a letter which is calculated 
at once to show the sustaining power of vital Christi- 
anity under such an overwhelming and agonizing chas- 
tisement, and to warn every man and woman in Great 
Britain and Ireland against violating in any w T ay the 
laws of the land, and thus voluntarily subjecting them- 
selves to a punishment, the nature and tendency of 
which so few persons seem fully to understand, but 
which is, in every respect, so terrible, — so likely, in 
ordinary circumstances, to prove disastrous to the soul, 
that it ought ever to be regarded with the utmost 
dread ! 

17* 



APPENDIX 



FIRST ADDRESS TO THE PRISONERS IMMEDIATELY ON THEIR EM- 
BARKATION, AND BEFORE THEY ARE PERMITTED TO QUIT THE 
QUARTER-DECK. 

This day commences a new era in your existence, 
The moment you set your fkiet on the decks you now 
occupy, you came under the operation, and, I trust, 
will speedily come under the influence, of a system 
which contemplates you as intellectual and moral be- 
ings; as beings who necessarily exert an incalculable 
influence, good or bad, upon each other, upon mankind, 
and upon the moral universe ; as beings, moreover, 
who can never cease to exist, in a state of perfect hap- 
piness or of unutterable wTetchedness. The present 
moment is the link which connects the past with the 
future; — a moment calculated to bring the past most 
vividly to your recollection, to awaken in your bosoms 
a deep and anxious solicitude respecting your future 
career and experience; — a moment, so full of intense 
interest to you and to me — so pregnant with result to 
every individual now before me, that I feel it difficult 
to determine what points of consideration I ought to 
select. It is your advantage, your individual, present 



-200 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

and everlasting welfare, that I now desire to seek; 
and perhaps, you cannot, at this instant, be more profi- 
tably exercised, than in honestly and solemnly calling 
up to your recollection the days of your life that are 
gone. 

Permit me, then, to ask you, in order that you may 
put the question, every one of you, secretly to himself, 
What views do you now entertain of your past life? 

What think you of the period of your infancy? — 
w T hen you hun'g a helpless, and, as it respects guilt 
personally contracted, a guiltless babe on your mother's 
breast — the tender object of a mother's care; over 
whom she watched day and night, with a sleepless 
solicitude, only known to the faithful mother? Can 
you think on the fond embraces of a mother's love, 
and the unutterable feelings awakened in a mother's 
bosom, when she gazed with delight on the child of 
her affection ? — I ask, is there a man/now before me, 
who can thus think on the clays of his infancy, and 
compare them with the present moment, and his heart 
remain unmoved ? Do you now consider how your 
father and mother toiled to procure, with the sweat of 
their brow, bread for you to eat, raiment for you to 
put on, a bed for you to sleep upon, and a house to 
shelter you from the cold, the rain, and the storm? — 
can you remember all this, and not put to your own 
hearts the question, How have I requited my parents' 
labour, their solicitude, their love? Oh, could they for 
a moment have imagined that they were rearing up 
children to bring dishonour upon their name, to be the 
inmates of prisons and of convict hulks, and to appear, 



FIRST ADDRESS ON BOARD. 201 

covered with the badges of infamy, as you now do, on 
the decks of a transport, to be removed with forfeited 
liberty from their native land, to some distant corner 
of the world, there to reap the bitter fruits of folly 
and of crime, what would have been the agonies of 
your parents' hearts! 

Perhaps there are before me the children of pious 
parents— two or three, it may be. You who are 
thus privileged, remember that you are the subjects 
of many fervent prayers. Your parents carried you, 
in the arms of their faith and love, to the throne of 
grace; and there, in the fervour of secret devotion, 
when no eye saw, but the Eye of Him whose help 
and blessing they implored for you, did they dedicate 
you to that compassionate Redeemer, who came to 
seek and save the lost! 

Do you remember how they taught you the Scrip- 
tures, and led you forth on the day of holy rest to 
the house of God ? Do you now remember the daily 
worship of God in your father's family, his morning 
and evening sacrifice of prayer and praise, his reading 
of God's holy word ? When the hour of rest arrived, 
the arms of a fond mother placed you in the couch 
which her affection and industry had prepared; and 
you fell asleep, listening to the tenderest expressions 
of maternal love. By the bed-side of her slumbering 
and unconscious child she kneels in prayer. Her 
heart's desire and that of her husband is, above all 
things, to see their children become the children of 
God by faith in Christ Jesus, and thus make choice 
of that good part which shall never be taken away 
from them. 



202 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

Do you recollect, as you advanced in years, how 
you set at naught all their counsel, despised their en- 
treaties, frustrated their prayers, and, by your diso- 
bedience and ingratitude, grieved their spirit, and stung 
their hearts? They saw the first outbreakings of the 
corruptions of your nature, and laboured to see those 
corruptions uprooted. They observed your disposition 
to turn your back upon them and upon God, and they 
tenderly remonstrated with you on the fearful choice 
you were making. They saw your choice of corrupt 
associates, and they reminded you that he who walk- 
eth with wise men shall be wise, but that the com- 
panion of fools shall be destroyed; yet all was of no 
avail. Your parents fought and laboured for you and 
for God; you fought and contended against your- 
selves, against your parents, against God! You 
cared not for a father's grief or a mother's broken 
heart; you heeded not their counsel, you steeled your 
heart against their love; you were wedded to the com- 
panions of your iniquity — to your unhallowed enjoy- 
ments, and after them you were determined to go. 
When the messengers of peace beckoned you to return 
to the paths of holiness, you sullenly turned your backs, 
determined to take the full draught of sin, though you 
knew that death was in the cup. Thus you ran 
greedily in your own ways, reckless of all conse- 
quences, until justice laid her iron hand upon you, and 
awarded you what by your deeds you demanded, and 
the interests of society required — namely, that you 
should be removed from the land of your birth, and 
be placed in circumstances corresponding with your 
character and your crimes. 



FIRST ADDRESS ON BOARD. 203 

But although few of you may have enjoyed the 
privilege of being brought up by consistent Christian 
parents, there are, nevertheless, many advantages 
which all of you have possessed. 

Have you not, ever since you opened your eyes 
upon the world you inhabit, had visible proofs of the 
power, wisdom, and goodness of God? Do not the 
heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
show his handiwork ? Do not your own bodies declare 
to you the perfections of Him who made you, and who 
has fed and upheld you all your life to the present 
moment? Hath he not been continually doing us 
good ; giving us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, 
filling our hearts with food and gladness, giving us 
life, and breath, and all things? 

And what have you to say to conscience — which 
God has placed in every man's bosom, by which to 
distinguish between right and wrong? Have you 
been careful to enlighten conscience? and have you 
listened to its voice ? Do you remember, when a child, 
with what a clear and distinct voice conscience spake 
to you ; told you of some immediate duty, some good 
act to be done, and bade you make haste and do it; 
or remonstrated with you as to some sinful omission, 
or some evil deed, warning you of consequences? 
And do you recollect with what conscious sophistry 
you laboured to turn aside her reasonings, to silence 
her voice, to impose upon yourself, and so to gratify 
your sinful desires? In this way conscience became 
seared as with a hot iron, and you have gathered the 
bitter fruits of your triumphs over her remonstrances 






204 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

— you have reaped an abundant harvest of guilt, in- 
famy, and suffering. 

Have you not also received many warnings from 
the dispensations of Divine Providence? Have you 
not been visited, perhaps, again and again, with af- 
fliction-? — brought, it may be, to the very gates of 
death; but your life was in great mercy prolonged, to 
give you time and space to return unto God. And 
how have you improved these kind chastisements? 
Have they produced the effect for which they were 
designed by a gracious God? Let conscience and 
your presence here answer the question. 

Which of you, moreover, cannot recollect a near 
relative, an intimate associate, cut down by death, 
perhaps suddenly, or at the close of a lingering disease, 
during which he was, by his sufferings, preaching a 
loud and intelligible sermon to all around him ? Was 
he carried off in the midst of his iniquity, while re- 
jecting the mercy published in the Gospel ? Oh, how 
loudly does such a death speak to your conscience ! 
And could you but hear the voice, how loudly does 
your friend, at this moment, address you from the 
regions of despair and everlasting burning ? Or, was 
he a faithful follower of Christ ? How does he now 
beckon to you from the mansions of eternal rest, and 
call upon you to turn at once from paths that lead 
down to the abodes of death ! 

Has your attention never been arrested by the holy 
and useful lives of godly men, rich or poor — men who 
live above the world, humble, consistent Christians, 
who press forward to a blessed and glorious eternity? 



FIRST ADDRESS ON BOARD. 205 

Why did you not, then, follow their example, and 
secure to yourselves their happiness? As to your 
telling me that you reckoned all the avowed followers 
of Christ hypocrites, this is too absurd to deserve our 
notice. If there were no good shillings, there could 
be, in circulation, no bad ones ; and if there were no 
real Christians, there would be no hypocritical pro- 
fessors of Christianity. Your conscience tells you, it 
was because you hated the Lord, that you hated his 
faithful servants ; and preferred the broad way and 
the wide gate leading down to the chambers of death, 
before the narrow path and strait gate which conduct 
unto life. 

But, again: Have you never heard of a book called 
the Bible ? I ask you, most solemnly, how have you 
treated it? You know that it was written by men 
inspired by the Spirit of God, and that by the Bible, 
God Himself speaks to your understanding and your 
heart. And when God addresses us, has He not a 
right to be heard? Your Maker graciously sent to 
tell you of your rebellion and your danger, of His love, 
and the provision He has, in His great mercy, made 
for your deliverance, and recovery to Himself and to 
happiness; and what reception have you given to His 
message, and to His Bible, through which that message 
was conveyed? His message have you not refused to 
receive? His Bible have you not treated with in- 
dignity and neglect ? You know that you have not 
made it your business to search it diligently, and in a 
right spirit ; nor yielded to it the obedience which it 
is your duty and privilege to yield ; and, therefor e> it 
18 



206 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



is, you arc this day standing on these decks in your 
present unhappy and degrading circumstances. Obe- 
dience to your Bible would have prevented all the evil 
you have brought upon yourselves, and which you 
now of necessity must endure. 

Are there many of you who tell me you cannot 
read, and that, therefore, you do not deserve blame 
for not reading the Bible? I ask you, why cannot 
you read? You knew that a written message to you 
from heaven must deserve to be examined; and that 
it must be worth your while — to say nothing of your 
duty — to use your utmost endeavours to be enabled to 
read and understand such a message. But what efforts, 
what strenuous exertions have you made? Had you 
no access, by any means, at any period of your life, to 
a school? How many did you beg and entreat to 
give you lessons? How many refused to afford you 
help? Have you not manifested a shameful indif- 
ference about the matter, preferring any amusement, 
however low or pernicious, to the manly exercise of 
learning to read the Scriptures? I can scarcely sup- 
pose that there is among you one individual, who 
might not have been able this day to read, had he done 
his duty, in using the means of instruction within his 
reach. For such wilful ignorance, and for all the 
crimes and sorrow that spring therefrom, is that man 
answerable to his conscience, to society, and to God ! 

Once more: You had access to places of public 
worship where the sacred Scriptures were read, 
prayers offered to God, and the Gospel of salvation 
freely published ! Did you thankfully avail your- 



FIRST ADDRESS ON BOARD, 207 

selves of every opportunity of there meeting with the 
people of God, to wait upon Him in His appointed 
ordinances? 

How have you employed the first day of the week 
— the Lord's day ? Look back upon your Sabbaths ! 
What speak they now? Are you prepared to hear 
their voice at the judgment-seat of Christ? What do 
they witness? Do you tell me they witness against 
your parents, or your masters? These are not re- 
plies to my present questions. What testimony do 
your Sabbaths bear to you? Have you used them for 
the ends for which He graciously gave them to you? 
Did you regard the day of holy rest as the day of 
slothful indolence? How much of God's holy day 
did you spend in idleness : how much in sinful and 
gross indulgences? Where were you when you heard 
the tolling of the bell, when the people were gather- 
ing themselves together to hear the word of pardon 
and peace, of holiness and life? What said you to the 
loud call, or to the whispers of conscience, when your 
neighbours and their families were proceeding to the 
house of prayer? Whither did your feet carry you? 
— To the place where the blessed Jesus hath promised 
to meet, to receive, and pardon sinners, and to fill them 
with the joys of His great salvation? or did they bear 
you to the haunts of vice, the abodes of darkness and 
of the children of darkness— the gates of death, which 
lead down to hell? The Tavern was more suited to 
your dispositions, than the place of Divine Worship; 
the destructive draught from the poisoned cup was 
swallowed with a greedy relish, while the rich pro- 



208 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

visions of the Gospel table, and the pure water of life, 
were utterly loathed and rejected ; dust, the serpent's 
meat, was preferred to the bread of heaven; low and 
corrupting ribaldry was more pleasing to the ear of 
your licentiousness, than were the truths of the Gos- 
pel. The song of the drunkard was preferred to the 
hymn of salvation and praise. Shame, poverty, dis- 
ease, and death, were chosen rather than respectability, 
competency, health, and life; and you are this day 
reaping some of the fruits of your choice. 

Finally: you knew the laws of your country; and 
that you were bound, both by the laws of .God and 
man, to speak truth, to be honest and upright, and to 
wrong no man. You knew that it was your duty to 
be industrious and frugal ; to provide, by some lawful 
calling, for yourselves and your families ; you were 
perfectly aware that the peace of society required that 
the laws of the land should be enforced ; yet these 
laws you deliberately, and the greater number of you, 
probably, oftener than once, violated. This course of 
conduct you moreover followed, in the face of many 
practical warnings, furnished to you by thousands of 
your countrymen, who, by their unprincipled and law- 
less conduct, rendered themselves obnoxious to justice, 
and paid the penalty. Thus have you forgotten the 
tender care of your parents, despised their counsels, 
and frustrated their prayers; the voice of faithful con- 
s sience you have stifled ; the warnings of Divine Pro- 
vidence you have turned aside; the holy example of 
God's children only excited the enmity of your carnal 
minds; the word of God you either neglected or per- 



FIRST ADDRESS ON BOARD. 209 

verted ; the house of prayer you forsook for the abodes 
of sin and death ; on the sound of the Gospel of peace 
you closed your ears; the Lord's day you profaned; 
the laws of your country you have trampled under 
your feet. The judges of the land have declared, on 
the verdict of a jury of your own countrymen, that the 
peace of society demands your being placed under re- 
straint, and forthwith removed to a distant corner of 
the empire; and you cannot fail to acknowledge — 
provided you are now in a becoming and hopeful 
state of mind — that your sentence is just, and that the 
Judge of all the earth, who knows your heart, and all 
your ways, hath acted towards you, not only in right- 
eousness, but likewise in wisdom, and in great mercy. 

These reflections may be painful to your minds, but 
they are profitable. You are, at this moment, enter- 
ing upon a new career; you now come under a system 
of moral discipline, which contemplates, not only your 
present, but your future character and enjoyments 
through endless ages; and it is of the utmost im- 
portance that you should entertain just views of the 
past, and be duly prepared to enter upon what lies 
before you. 

Should there be — the case is possible — one indivi- 
dual amongst you, who has in truth reason to con- 
clude that he is not guilty of the crime imputed to 
him, let him remember, that however much such an 
evil is to be lamented, and however much man may 
have sinned in tearing him from his friends and the 
land of his birth, that there are other crimes with 
which he is justly chargeable before God, which de- 
18* 



210 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



serve at his hand a for severer chastisement ; and that, 
viewing the infliction as an evil which the All-wise 
and Sovereign Ruler of the universe has permitted to 
overtake him, it may he so improved as to advance 
his best interests for Time and Eternity! 

I merely admit the possibility of such a case, 
knowing that it is not a rare thing for men in your 
situation to allege that they are guiltless sufferers; 
but the probability is, that there is not among you one 
individual who is not guilty of the crime or crimes 
with which he is charged, and on account of which 
he is now suffering. 

You now withdraw to your berths, and you will do 
so in deep and solemn thought. Let every man's 
mind retire within himself. Let there be no talking, 
but let all be deep consideration. Look back upon 
your lives; silently meditate upon, and faithfully ap- 
ply, every man to himself, what has been now spoken 
in great kindness to you all. Let every one consider, 
that to talk to his neighbour on retiring from this 
place, is to invade his neighbour's rights, and to in- 
terrupt that solemn and secret communion that he is 
now required to hold with his own heart, and with 
Him who is the Searcher of all hearts, and from whom 
no secrets are hid. 



FIRST PART OF SECOND ADDRESS. 211 



SECOND ADDRESS TO THE PRISONERS. 



The following day is chiefly occupied with the or- 
ganization of the people. They are formed into three 
divisions, and placed under the superintendence of three 
captains, cautiously selected from amongst their fellow- 
prisoners, according to the character given them in 
the hulks and prisons, and my own observation of their 
countenances and general demeanour. Besides the 
appointment of captains of divisions, as many more of 
the petty officers are nominated as can be fixed upon 
consistently with prudence. 

In the afternoon, just in time to conclude before 
mustering the people below, for the night, they are as- 
sembled on the quarter-deck— the guard being on the 
poop — to receive the second address ; of which the 
following is the substance : 

SECOND ADDRESS AFTER THE EMBARKATION OF THE PRISONERS. 

In my first address, I endeavoured to assist your 
recollections of your past lives, in order to aid you in 
the secret examination of your hearts, and I would 
hope that you have solemnly and prayerfully reflected 



212 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

upon what I said ; and that He to whom the night is 
as the clay, hath seen your unfeigned contrition ; ob- 
served your self-abasement in His sight ; and recorded, 
in the book of His remembrance, the earnest longing 
of your souls to be delivered from sin and death, and 
recovered to holiness and life. 

I. I now call your attention, in the first place, to 
the exercises in which you are to be occupied during 
the voyage; and I do not address you merely as pri- 
soners, but as my fellow-men. Of the causes which 
have brought you here, I say nothing. All that I 
have to do with at this moment, are the facts, that 1 
find you here, and that I find myself here, charged 
with the care of your persons, your health, improve- 
ment, and happiness. I look upon you as so many 
members of that family to which I also belong — the 
offspring of our common and almighty Parent, the 
Creator and the Preserver of the universe. He made 
you, and He made you for Himself. He made you, 
at the first, in His own moral image, and under His 
blessing ; you have lost that image, and have fallen 
under His disapprobation. Still you are accountable 
to Him for all you think; for your belief and unbelief; 
for all you say, and for all you do. Not only are 
you accountable, but you are likewise immortal, 
beings. Every one of you is in possession of a death- 
less spirit ; a spirit which must soon quit the taber- 
nacle of clay it now inhabits, and, leaving it to return 
to the dust from which it was taken, must appear be- 
fore God, to receive at His hand, according to the 
deeds done in the body, whether they be good or evil. 



FIRST PART OF SECOND ADDRESS. 213 

But He who is not a man that He should lie, nor 
the son of man that He should repent, hath announced 
to a guilty and desolate world, the joyful tidings of a 
Divine Deliverer. The eternal Word, by whom all 
things were made — even the beloved Son of the Father 
— clothed Himself in the nature of the fallen and the 
lost, and appeared as the " Prince of Life ;" van- 
quished the great adversary, and accomplished a com- 
plete salvation for the human race. This great sal- 
vation was exhibited to the Patriarchs, and to the 
nation of the Jews ; it was preached by the Apostles 
of the Lord ; and in the Scriptures these glad tidings 
of great joy are proclaimed, at this day, to all the sin- 
ful and perishing children of men, without distinction 
of rank or condition ; proclaimed to you, — for your 
deliverance from sin and its bitter fruits, for your 
recovery to God and to holy and blissful obedience. 
According to your treatment of this message of mercy 
and peace, will be your eternal condition. If you 
receive it, you receive pardon, life, and glory ever- 
lasting; if you reject it, you choose condemnation, 
death, and never-ending, wretchedness. But the Holy 
Scriptures not only reveal to you the way of par- 
don and life, but all that you really require to know 
in the present world respecting God and yourselves; 
what you are to believe, and what you are to prac- 
tise', the duties you owe to your Maker, to your 
fellow-men, and to yourselves. They inform you 
on what principles, and from what motives, you are 
to act, so as to please God. These inspired writings 
constitute the chart by which you are to steer your 



214 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

course, through the present life, to the shores of a 
boundless eternity ! They are the magazine, where- 
in is laid up the whole Christian armour with which 
you are to meet, and to vanquish, all your spiritual 
enemies. They set before you the Bread of life, of 
which if a man eat he shall never die; the raiment, 
which waxeth not old ; the robe of righteousness; the 
garments of salvation and praise. They supply you 
with gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich. 
They conduct you to that great and gracious Physician, 
who is able and willing, without money and without 
price, to heal all your wounds ; to remove all your dis- 
eases; to enable your eyes to see, your ears to hear, 
and your hearts to receive the things belonging to your 
present and everlasting peace. When you are cast 
clown, they will raise you up; when bewildered and 
perplexed, they will give you counsel; w T hen in doubt 
as to your path, they will say to you in a language 
you will understand, " This is the way, walk ye in 
it." When your heart is disconsolate, they will fill 
you with that joy with which a stranger intermeddleth 
not ; when in darkness, they will give you light ; 
when w r eary and faint, they will supply you with 
strength, and courage, and fit you for all the demands 
of the day ; when filled with self-loathing, they will 
show you in whom the Father regards you as " com- 
plete ;" when elated with the joys of salvation, they 
will keep you humble at the foot o£ the cross. In 
health they will quicken you in the w T ork your hea- 
venly Father hath given you to perform ; in affliction, 
they will enable you to exercise resignation and hope ; 



FIRST PART OF SECOND ADDRESS. 215 

and holding fast the truth concerning Jesus even to 
the end, you will through faith in Him who died and 
rose again, be made more than conquerors over the 
last enemy, and partakers of that eternal life and 
glory which the Lord hath promised to all who love 
and obey him. 

Your principal exercises during the voyage, then, 
will be to read the Scriptures, to search them diligent- 
ly ; to commit them to memory ; to store your minds 
with their precepts and doctrines; and especially to 
study that grand remedial system there made known 
for the restoration of sinful men — and therefore of you 
— to the Divine favour, to holiness, and to bliss. 

It is necessary that you should be made acquainted 
with some of the evidences of the truth and inspiration 
of the Holy Scriptures, that you may be able to defend 
yourselves from the attacks of the wicked ; we shall 
therefore devote a portion of our time to that subject. 
Your attention will also be directed to the investiga- 
tion of the works of creation, especially the world we 
inhabit, and our solar system, which is calculated to 
elevate our souls to God, and to fill us with wonder, 
admiration and praise. 

But it is the Bible itself which I am most anxious 
that you should read and study ; and you will all, I 
trust, be able, at the termination of the voyage, to 
read with so much accuracy, as to warrant my giving 
each of you a copy previously to your debarkation. 
Past experience leads me to expect to find a large 
proportion of you totally uneducated. If so, you will 
find at school abundance of employment during the 



216 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

voyage. Idleness can have no place with us; the 
whole of our time will be in demand. The most wil- 
ling, cheerful, and active exertions will be required on 
your part, to remove the calamity under which you 
now lie, of not being able to read, or not with facility ; 
and to acquire useful knowledge, especially the know- 
ledge which God communicates to you in his word. 
So actively engaged will you be in the business of 
your education, that the period of your voyage will 
insensibly glide away; and you will feel that it has 
been too short for the delightful and profitable exer- 
cises in which you have been engaged. 

When you shall have learned to read well, you will 
be allowed the additional privilege of learning to write 
and cypher. A number of you, moreover, will be 
occupied during a portion of your time, in teaching, 
and in discharging the duties of petty officers accord- 
ing to instructions which, in due time, will be issued. 

II. I have, in the second place, to set before you 
the character of that discipline under which you are 
to be placed in this transport. It will be, as much as 
possible, a moral discipline, approximated in principle 
and end to the Divine government, or moral discipline 
of the universe. God is a holy God ; His throne is 
established in holiness ; His law 7 is a holy law. In 
His government there is to be found nothing, properly 
speaking, arbitrary. His acts are all founded upon 
immutable principles of truth and justice, and dic- 
tated by infinite wisdom and love. God willeth, that 
is, desireth, the happiness of all His creatures; but 
their happiness must, in the very nature of things de- 






SECOND PART OF SECOND ADDRESS. 217 

pend on the conformity of their character and conduct 
to His revealed will. Your happiness, then, is neces- 
sarily involved in your accomplishment of the revealed 
will of God. 

From these considerations it is very evident, that 
whatever laws and regulations are enacted by man, 
for the government of his fellow-men, in order to be 
sound, safe, binding, and conducive to the happiness 
of the community — they must be in perfect harmony 
with the revealed will of the Sovereign of the universe. 
All human legislators are bound to bear solemnly in 
mind, that they are legislating for beings w T ho are al- 
ready the subjects of a government infinitely superior 
to all other governments ; the subjects of a King, who 
has an inalienable right to their supreme affection and 
unlimited obedience ; whose law is, in its authority, 
infinitely above all the enactments of the creature, and 
renders null and invalid every opposing or conflicting 
decree or command. 

In laying down rules, then, for the regulation of 
your conduct on board this transport, it will be my 
care to see, that such rules are in perfect keeping with 
the revealed will of your Maker; so that you shall not 
be required to do or omit any thing which would imply 
an infringement of His laws; but that in obeying me, 
you shall be found yielding obedience to the great 
Ruler of us all. 

It is required of you, therefore, that your language, 

your manners, and the whole of your conduct towards 

each other, be in keeping with the spirit and precepts 

of Christianity. The grand rule for your guidance 

19 



218 



THE CONVICT SHIP, 



is so summarily and beautifully expressed by our Lord, 
that when once heard it is understood ; and with the 
slightest desire to remember it, can never be forgotten : 
"All things whatsoever ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them." 
Keeping this rule in view, and carrying it out in the 
whole of your intercourse with one another, you can- 
not fail to secure the approbation of your own minds, 
and give satisfaction to me, and to all who act with 
me in the public service. In accordance with its spirit, 
it is enjoined upon you to regard each other as breth- 
ren, to cherish those feelings of kind and affectionate 
interest in each other's happiness, which become you 
as the offspring of one common Father, and which 
ought to derive a peculiar tenderness, from the circum- 
stances in which you are placed, as fellow-transgress- 
ors, reaping the bitter fruit of your crimes. Although 
there are amongst you, unquestionably, degrees of guilt, 
yet you must remember that you are all guilty, and con- 
signed to the same punishment; it is fit, therefore, that 
you should all sympathize with each other under such 
a heavy calamity. The least depraved amongst you, 
however, will regard the calamity of being guilty, and 
having merited punishment, as far more severe, and 
calling forth deeper and more tender sympathies to- 
wards each other, than the mere endurance of it. 
Compassionate and brotherly affection ought therefore 
to stamp the whole of your social intercourse, as com- 
panions in offence and in suffering, who are now giving 
your hearts unto God. 

The opportunities, during the voyage, of exercising 



SECOND PART OF SECOND ADDRESS. 219 

the best and kindliest feelings, will be ample. United 
together as one large family, not only personal but 
relative duties must be every moment recurring. I 
request, therefore, that you will be continually on the 
watch to ascertain the duties immediately incumbent 
upon you; §n.d that you will set about the perform- 
ance of them with a cheerful alacrity. I entreat you 
to get rid at once of the debasing principle of selfish- 
ness. In seeking deliverance from it, you seek in the 
most effectual manner your own peace, and the com- 
fort of all with whom you have to do. But if, on the 
contrary, you suffer yourselves to be influenced by 
this repulsive and degrading principle, you will not 
only banish peace and serenity from your own breasts, 
but you will excite and foment discord amongst your 
associates; and thus counteract all my efforts to ad- 
vance their best interests. Let me, then, see every 
one of you habitually influenced by a spirit of self-de- 
nial and universal benevolence. Let every one pre- 
fer his brother before himself, seeking first of all his 
welfare and convenience, and then his own ; or at least 
Jet his own and his brother's interest have an equal 
share in his regard and attention. Should you at once 
come under the influence of such a generous, elevating, 
and ennobling principle of action as this, how delight- 
ful will be the discharge of the task — if task it could 
then be called — which devolves upon me! Why, your 
government will be your own ! — your own sponta- 
neous rule ; a government springing up out of the 
rule which each member of our large family exercises 
over his own heart and mind ; the government of bro- 



220 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

therly affection, and disinterested regard to the gene- 
ra] good; the government of supreme love to God! 

This being the character of our little community, 
our ears will never be assailed by the boisterous lan- 
gunge, or our eyes pained by the savage tug of a 
grasping and all-appropriating selfishness^ The calm- 
ness of our moral atmosphere will not be disturbed by 
the revolting contest for personal mastery, and per- 
sonal enjoyment, and the appropriate language of a 
sordid self-seeking. We shall have no angry and sel- 
fish contests about supposed or real personal rights 
and privileges; but we shall hear the language of bro- 
therly affection. Self-denial will take the place of 
self-indulgence, and the strife among us will be the 
strife of brotherly love; not who shall do least, but 
who shall do most for others 5 comfort; not who shall 
have this or that good thing, but who shall be most 
ready to waive the privilege in behalf of another. 

You will not only be careful of each other's com- 
forts, but you will be kindly watchful over each other's 
speech and behaviour, as well as your own. None 
of you will suffer evil upon his brother, but will "in 
anywise rebuke him; " only thtse rebukes will be in 
soft and gentle language— language suitable to one 
who feels himself to he more weak and erring than the 
brother whom he corrects, and thus his words of re- 
proof will be like soft oil, refreshing and salutary, and 
which will not break the head or wound the feeli igs 
of the reproved. 

You will not only be attentive to each other's com- 
fort, language, and behaviour; but you will, with a 



SEC0N T DJ>ART OF SECOND ADDRESS. 221 

prudent and affectionate zeal, embrace every oppor- 
tunity of doing the greatest possible good to one an- 
other, and study to promote, to the utmost, your mu- 
tual happiness and highest interests. 

To my instructions respecting your demeanour to- 
wards your petty officers and your schoolmasters, who 
will be chosen from amongst yourselves, you will be, 
in an especial manner, attentive. You will not only 
bear in mind that they act for me, but that the object 
of their appointment is your advantage, your improve- 
ment and happiness; and you will so act as to ensure 
to them the enjoyment of unmingled satisfaction in 
the discharge of their official duties. 

I shall always regard any act of disobedience or im- 
propriety of conduct towards a petty officer or school- 
master, as more aggravated, than if such conduct were 
manifested immediately towards myself; and it will 
therefore be visited with severer expressions of my 
displeasure. Offences committed directly against 
petty officers, not merely imply that dereliction of prin- 
ciple which is involved in every offence, but are ag- 
gravated by more or less of meanness of spirit and 
baseness of disposition ; they will therefore be visited 
with that degree of punishment which not only I, but 
all the sound-thinking among yourselves, must feel 
they deserve. 

With regard to your demeanour towards the officers 
of the guard, and the soldiers under their command, 
the master of the ship, and the ship's officers and crew, 
let it ever be influenced by the same spirit which you 
have been enjoined to cultivate towards each other. 
19* 



232 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

Let your language bo always becoming and respectful, 
your manners most unequivocally polite, and your 
whole conduct consistent with the dictates of sound 
reason, and the regulations laid down for your guidance. 
The guard have duties imposed upon them, with which 
you are not, in the slightest degree, on any account 
whatever, to interfere. To none of the soldiers do I 
allow you to speak, unless in cases of necessity, and 
in the discharge of your duties. And when, at any 
time, you are addressed by any of the soldiers, you 
will uniformly reply in language the most becoming 
and creditable to you, and most suitable for them. To 
the sentries you are, on no occasion, to utter a word 
without my permission; none under the Crown are 
more sacred than the person and office of a sentry. 
Towards them you will therefore ever manifest the 
most watchful respect, and promptly attend to all their 
prohibitions. But it will be your business so to con- 
duct yourselves, as to avoid ever coming into contact 
with the sentries at all, or with any of the guard, ex- 
cepting in the performance of the duties required of 
you. 

With the working of the ship or with any of the 
ship's duties, you are never to presume to interfere, 
except when your assistance may, from time to time, 
be required; which to avoid interference with your as- 
signed duties, and especially your school-hours, must 
always be with my permission, and which you will 
then cheerfully and readily afford. In one word, to- 
wards all on board, you will ever cultivate the best 
and most kindly feelings. 



SECOND PAUT OF SECOND ADDRESS. 223 

At present I shall only further remind you, that I 
most distinctly and most positively prohibit every thing 
that in the slightest degree tends to corrupt the mind, 
destroy social harmony, and retard intellectual and 
moral improvement. All indecent language, low un- 
manly vulgarisms; all offensive slang; all profane 
oaths, cursing, and execration ; all expressions deroga- 
tory to the honour of God, and calculated to pain the 
ears of those who love and reverence His name, but 
familiar and not displeasing to men of an opposite 
character; all such speech, let it be remembered, I 
most solemnly forbid. A regard to your best interests, 
present and future, a respect to good order, and a due 
regard to the protection which every man and boy 
amongst you has a right to expect from me, demand 
that all such language be wholly and entirely banished 
from amongst you. 

On the same grounds, I forbid the use of all irri- 
tating and provoking speech or gestures, in your inter- 
course with each other; the employment of all vulgar 
epithets and unmanly " nicknames," the use of which 
always indicates a low and undisciplined mind. In a 
word, I most earnestly request, that you always speak 
to each other in plain and chaste language, such as can 
give no possible offence to any one, even the most vir- 
tuous and refined. If you duly recollect that you are 
men, who, though depraved, are still the highest order 
of beings in this world ; and if you keep in mind what 
every man has a right to expect from another, as well 
as the respect which every one owes to himself, it will 
become easy and natural to you to employ, in all your 



224 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

intercourse with each other, the most becoming and 
respectful language. I do desire, that I may never, 
during our voyage, have cause to reprove any of my 
people for any thing unbecoming in speech or beha- 
viour. 

As nothing is more subversive of confidence and 
social order than falsehood and lies, it is most strictly 
enjoined upon you, that you do always speak truth. 
At all hazards, whatever may be the consequence, 
speak nothing but what you do really believe to be 
true. What is more base, more wicked, than to tell 
a lie? What more dishonouring to the God -of truth? 
What more injurious to society — what more deserv- 
ing of punishment ? With us, lying must, like other 
crimes, be ever visited with disapprobation; in other 
words, with some appropriate infliction. 

Bearing false witness, is lying, accompanied with 
high aggravations; and therefore merits a severe pu- 
nishment. 

You are required to cultivate the strictest habits of 
honesty, and, according to the golden precept laid 
down to you, to respect your brother's property, as 
you would desire him to respect yours. If you are 
wise and virtuous enough to act on these principles, 
we shall not have a single case of theft during our 
voyage; not one case to cast a stigma upon yov, or 
cause grief and disappointment to me. I do not, at 
present, remember one instance of theft, committed by 
my people, during any voyage, escaping detection 
sooner or later. But honesty arising from the fear of 
detection and punishment, is not honesty. To be 
honest, you must be honest on principle ; honest, be- 



SECOND PART OF SECOND ADDRESS. 225 

cause the Sovereign of the universe commands it. 
Such is the honesty which I desire to see the whole of 
you cultivate and practise. 

Again I have to request, that you unite cordially 
with me in endeavouring to secure the calm and pro- 
fitable observance of "the Lord's day." I can have 
no authoritative control over your spiritual observance 
of that holy day ; but it is my imperative duty so to 
arrange our affairs as to preserve quiet and peace, and 
prevent, as far as in me lies, every thing calculated to 
annoy or disturb those who desire to honour the Lord 
on His own day. The observance of the Lord's day 
for spiritual exercises and enjoyment, is every man's 
right ; and it is my incumbent duty to preserve to 
every man under my care, the uninterrupted enjoy- 
ment of that right. To you God has given the clay ; 
and to you I am bound to secure, as far as possible, 
the opportunity of availing yourselves of His gift. I 
shall therefore take care that nothing be done on that 
clay, save works of absolute necessity and mercy; and 
it will give me peculiar pleasure to see that you faith- 
fully and voluntarily dedicate the Lord's clay to the 
cheerful and delightful pursuit of biblical knowledge, 
and the happy observance of all Divinely-appointed 
ordinances, as far as circumstances permit. 

Playing at cards, and every species of gambling, 
on any day of the week, are most positively prohibited. 
It is quite unnecessary for me to state here/the many 
strong reasons which might be urged for this prohibi- 
tion. To the more reflecting and experienced among 
you, some of these reasons must be familiar. By all 
men of sound mind and good principles gambling is, in 



*22(3 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

all circumstances, considered as a crying evil, and must 
certainly be regarded in this light by us; for it is a 
practice both dishonest and injurious, and totally at 
variance with the law of brotherly love. But even 
were it lawful to gamble, ive have no time for such 
trifling, or for any unprofitable amusements, much less 
for those which are sinful. Just views of the value 
of time, and of the account which, "at that day," 
we must all render of its use and of its abuse, will not 
permit us to divert any portion of it from the purpose 
for which it is given to us. You will enjoy abundant 
relaxation in your night's rest, and in constant change 
of duty. And you will have wholesome exercise in 
your marches, by divisions, around the decks every 
evening, or as often as the weather and other cir- 
cumstances will permit. Such of you as may be called 
to fill the situation of petty officers, will find that the 
zealous discharging of your duties secures to you 
abundance of exercise. 

The youngest amongst you must now, in some mea- 
sure, understand that it is in the strictest sense a moral 
discipline which I desire to see in operation on board 
this transport. In further proof of which T shall give 
orders that those irons — the badges of your disgrace — 
with w T hich you are at present fettered, be removed 
from the whole of you, at as early a period as is con- 
sistent with the discharge of other duties; and I do 
most ardently hope, that when I have once caused 
them to be struck off, you will not, by your conduct, 
demand their being again replaced ; for what can be 
more disgraceful to you, and painful to me, than the 
clanking of these irons as you walk along the decks? 



GENERAL OUTLINE 



SCRIPTURAL INSTRUCTION. 



Our main business, is with the Bible; its evidences, 
external and internal, its momentous doctrines and 
holy precepts, its appalling, yet righteous and even 
merciful threatenings, and its exceeding great and 
precious promises. Besides the course of instruction 
contained in the lessons appointed for the service on 
the Lord's day, the Scriptures are read in regular or- 
der at our daily worship; a chapter from the Old Tes- 
tament in the morning, and from the New Testament 
in the evening, accompanied with prayer and a psalm, 
and by practical application to the heart and life. The 
catechetical mode of instruction on these and other oc- 
casions, is found in the highest degree advantageous. 
The men are called on in rotation, by my list, and 
when unable to reply, an appeal is made to the next 
on the list. This plan, besides securing the attention 
of all the people, makes the instructor acquainted with 
the state of their minds, and amount of their know- 
ledge, or rather in the first instance at least, of their 



228 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

ignorance, and so directs him in their instruction. As 
there is not time to read through the whole Bible, the 
most important chapters are selected, in regular course, 
and the summary only is given of the intermediate 
ones, which the men are directed to read in private, 
and in the schools. Beginning with the books of 
Moses, we proceed through the most remarkable pas- 
sages in the history of the Jews; the Psalms and Pro- 
verbs follow; portions of Job; the most doctrinal 
chapters. of Isaiah, those especially which refer pro- 
phetically to the Messiah and His kingdom; a few 
chapters of Jeremiah, as xvii. and xxxi.; and Ezekiel, 
ix. xviii., xxxiii., xxxiv., xxxvi., and xxxvii. ; a con- 
siderable part of Daniel; and select portions of the 
minor prophets. Of the New Testament, we read the 
whole of the Gospels by St. Matthew and St. John, 
portions of those by St. Luke and St. Mark, the whole 
of the Acts, and several of the Epistles; those to the 
Romans and Hebrews are particularly dwelt upon and 
applied. 

The attention of the people is directed to the nature 
and perfections of God, especially to the great and 
fundamental doctrines of the Godhead — the personality 
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in con- 
nexion with the unity of Jehovah; to the Divinity of 
Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit ; to the authenti- 
city, genuineness, credibility, integrity, and inspira- 
tion of the sixty-six books of Holy Scripture; to the 
creation of the world, — man's primitive character, — 
his moral relation to God and to the universe, — his 
apostacy by disobedience, — in a word, to the inspired 



COURSE OF SCRIPTURAL INSTRUCTION. 229 

records of the garden of Eden. After considering the 
history of man's fall, we proceed to give the people a 
broad, impressive view of our guilt, depravity, and 
helplessness, as set forth in the sacred pages, as well 
as in those of uninspired history, and confirmed by 
daily observation, — especially by the experience of 
our own hearts ; and having thus- seen our absolute 
need of Divine deliverance, we turn to the provision 
of that better covenant, of which the Lord Jesus Christ, 
— the second Adam, — the Lord from heaven, is the 
ever-blessed and immutable Head. Beginning with 
Genesis iii. 15, and passing onwards, we observe the 
recorded faith, confession, and hope of the patriarchs 
and prophets; and consider many of the predictions 
concerning the Messiah, His Divine and human 
natures, united in the one person of Emmanuel, — His 
character, offices, work, and reign, and the nature and 
extent of His kingdom, as revealed in the Old Testa- 
ment writings, particularly in the Mosaic ritual, and 
other types and figures. Our daily perusal of the 
New Testament leads us at the same time to the con- 
sideration of His incarnation and birth ; His doctrines 
and precepts; His miracles and prophecies ; and man- 
ner of teaching; His omniscience, forbearance, lowli- 
ness, and power ; His holiness, compassion, zeal, and 
faithfulness; His obedience, sufferings, and rejection; 
His death, as the Divine and voluntary Substitute for 
sinners; His burial, resurrection, promises, and espe- 
cially the great promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit ; 
His appointment of the Apostles, His ascension in the 
presence of ordained witnesses, and entrance into the 
20 



230 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



heavenly, holy place with His own blood, to appear 
as our great High Priest in the presence of God; the 
all-prevailing efficacy of His intercession, the eternity 
of His kingly, priestly, and prophetic offices, the coming 
of the Holy Spirit, the universal proclamation of 
the Gospel, and the conversion of sinners by the power 
of the truth and of the Holy Ghost ; the formation 
and constitution of Christian Churches, and their Di- 
vinely-appointed ordinances and ministers. Man's 
relations and duties to God, to the churches of the 
saints, to his relatives, friends, neighbours, and coun- 
try ; to his sovereign, and all in authority, to all man- 
kind, and to himself, come under our consideration, 
as well as the solemn subjects of death, judgment, and 
the final conflagration of this world ; of hell, heaven, 
and eternity; and the unalterable condition of the 
children of God and the children of Satan after death! 

But to give a view of the instructions imparted to 
the people in the style and manner in which they are 
delivered, is quite impossible. Occasional manifesta- 
tions of principle and character by one or other of the 
prisoners, and all the incidents which occur on the 
voyage are made to supply useful and practical in- 
struction. 

When I ascertain, either by my own observation 
or otherwise, that a prisoner is under serious impres- 
sions, I privately send for him to some place of retire- 
ment, on deck, in the prison, or in the hospital ; and 
converse with him on his state of mind, with a view 
of orivino; him suitable instruction, and discovering as 
much of his past history, and present feelings, as may 



INSTRUCTION SUITED TO CONVICTS. "31 

be useful to us both. Such interviews, besides afford- 
ing me an opportunity of dealing closely with indi- 
vidual souls, serve to direct ray choice of subjects for 
general instruction, and my illustrations and application 
of Divine truth. 

The people are occasionally assembled to hear an 
address on various other subjects of great practical 
importance ; such as the vast value of their souls, — 
their immense moral influence, — the inconceivable ex- 
tent to which they may yet prove a blessing or a 
curse to society, and be instrumental in promoting the 
salvation or the ruin of immortal souls ; — on the extent 
of the intellectual and moral empire of God, the pos- 
sible influence of man's example and history on all 
observant intelligences, and the awfully-important and 
responsible position in the universe, occupied by the 
most humble and obscure of the human race, even by 
the depraved and despised prisoner ; — on the moral 
tendency on man, and on all observant and intelligent 
beings, of such a pardon of transgression, as should 
have no respect to the requirements and penalties of 
law ; — on the intercourse and influence of holy angels 
and of apostate spirits, with this world's inhabitants; 
— on the great question, How can Gcd be just, while 
he pardons and justifies the ungodly who believe in 
Jesus? — on the necessity of regeneration and sancti- 
fication, as well as of pardon and justification, for 
happiness and safety ; — on the question, What is the 
Scripture doctrine concerning Leaven and hell? and 
what do these terms import as essentially constituting 
heaven and hell, besides the idea of mere locality? 



232 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

A somewhat extended experience of the sentiments, 
habits, and character of convicts, has taught me the 
necessity and importance of instructing them also very 
minutely, and very familiarly and impressively, on such 
points as the following, which I specify as they occur 
to me at the moment, without much regard to order, 
either as it respects their nature or importance: 
namely, 

1. On the nature of obedience and disobedience to 
lawful orders and lawful authority. 

2. On the evil and criminality of lying. 

3. On using improper speech of any kind. 

4. On theft. The amount of guilt not determined 
merely by the value of the property stolen, but by the 
nature of the violence offered to law, whether the law 
of God or of man. 

5. On the misimprovement or theft of time. Rob- 
bing people of the time which belongs to them, and 
which is their bond fide property. 

6. On carelessness. The true nature of the majo- 
rity of those incidents commonly, but most incorrectly, 
called accidents, — the amount of guilt which most of 
them involve; and the vast importance of watchful 
and habitual conscientiousness . 

7. On the crime of drunkenness, whether viewed 
in relation to God, to the drunkard, or to the com- 
munity. 

8. On the met that no one can bring guilt upon any 
man's conscience, but that man himself.* Who brought 

* Our esteemed author's intention here was no doubt good; but his 
language and illustrations arc unguarded. It would be contrary to the 



INSTRUCTION SUITED TO CONVICTS. 233 

guilt on the conscience of Eve? — Herself. Who 
brought guilt on the conscience of A 'J am? — Himself. 
Temptation is to ike tempter an aggravated sin, but to 
those tempted, not a sin, but a trial; and the tempted 
contract no guilt, so long as they faithfully and firmly 
resist the temptation. It is yielding to temptation 
that involves the tempted in sin; for no one can stain 
my conscience with guilt but myself. The guilty 
stain can reach my conscience only through the me- 
dium of my own will, my own consent. 

9. On the disposition often manifested by prisoners, 
both male and female, to charge their being " brought 
into trouble," as they call it, and to punishment, upon 
others. Does a Magistrate send a man to prison, or 
to the treadmill, because his master starved him, 
treated him cruelly, or would not allow him to attend, 
on any Lord's day, a place of Divine worship; and 
does he assign such reason in his "warrant" to carry 
the punishment into effect? — Or does he send a wo- 
man to prison, or to the cells, because "her mistress 
kept her sawing and splitting heavy wood, would al- 
low her neither clothes nor shoes, but beat her on the 
head, broke her comb into pieces, and tore her hand- 
kerchief from her neck?" And are these the facts 
stated by the Magistrate in his "warrant," as fur- 
nishing the immediate ground for punishment? No! 
When prisoners encounter such treatment, (and of 
which one view only can be entertained,) they are 

whole tenor of his views and of the context, to consider him as, in this 
% assailing the great doctrines of Original Guilt, and Natural 
Corruption. J. Ii. F. 

20* 



234 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

tempted, it may be, to do or say something that is 
wrong, and not in keeping with prudent and meek 
submission, and so commit themselves, and supply 
some real or ostensible ground of punishment. They 
have, unhappily, forgotten 1 Peter ii., and similar 
portions of Holy Writ, — they have not acted with 
prudence. 

10. On the practice of prisoners absconding, or ab- 
senting themselves without leave; and the attempt to 
justify such practice on the ground of the object which 
the absentee has, or professes to have, in view, — such 
as to visit a child or some other relative. Absconding 
is not only bad morality, but bad policy ; the runaway 
can never feel secure or at peace, and is always living 
in the violation of law : a Christian, acting in character, 
cannot, of moral possibility, abscond. Should a convict 
be tempted to depart from the Christian character, and 
absent himself without leave, or should he become a 
Christian after he has absconded, he could not rest 
until he gave himself up to justice. The period of 
servitude to which we have voluntarily subjected our- 
selves, must be faithfully served ; unless a remission 
of the w T hole or of a part of the sentence be lawfully 
obtained. The laws of God must not be violated : we 
must do wrong no more, but only do that w T hich is 
right and well-pleasing to the Lord. What is the 
condition of an absconded convict on his death-bed ; 
— of a convict dying in the very act of resisting or 
evading the just laws of men, and therefore, of viola- 
ting the law of God? To die while persisting in the 
refusal to give himself up to justice in this world, is 



INSTRUCTION SUITED TO CONVICTS. 235 

to die in the position of the man who, with a stolen 
purse of gold under his pillow, refuses to restore it to 
its rightful owner! 

11. On the notion that convicts are not cared for. 
God cares for them! Christianity cares for them! all 
truly godly people care for them! the angels of heaven 
care for them! Not only is Christianity their never- 
failing friend, but it inclines all who embrace it, to 
treat them justly, mercifully, and kindly, and with a 
benignant and prayerful regard for their truest com- 
fort and happiness. 

12. On the fearful tendency which prisoners but too 
frequently manifest, to become reckless, and to give 
themselves up to all manner of insubordination and 
crime. No treatment they receive can furnish any 
apology for such recklessness, however it may operate 
as an exciting cause of their folly and their sin. 

13. On the proneness of prisoners to forget the im- 
mense value of their souls, and the incalculable amount 
of good they may be the means, in the hand of God, 
of conferring on each other, on their master and his 
household, on the community, the world, and the 
church; and, on the other hand, the extent of evil they 
may lend themselves to perpetrate or promote. 

14. On the liability of prisoners to forget how brief 
— how very brief, is the -period of their existence that 
is past, — how T brief that entire portion of their exist- 
ence which belongs to the present life ! How readily 
do they lose sight of eternity, and of the eternal dura- 
tion of their being ! 

15. On the fact, that no class of persons have it in 



2 36 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

their power by conversation, consistent Christian ex- 
ample, believing prayer, and holy zeal, to contribute 
so largely, and, under the Divine blessing, so effectu- 
ally, to the spiritual instruction, reformation, and hap- 
piness of prisoners, as prisoners themselves, continu- 
ally living in the presence of each other. Prisoners 
are accountable to God for the use they make of their 
influence, to whomsoever that influence may extend. 
Let all think, with good effect, on 2 Kings v. 2 — 15 ; 
John iv. 28 — 39; and Rev. xxii. 17. 

16. On the amount of suffering which vice inflicts 
upon the transgressor, and all his relatives and friends; 
and on the vast number of relatives and other 'persons 
aifected by the conduct and condition of our convicts! 

17. On the grand end which Government has in 
view in removing convicts to a remote colony ; and 
the regard which prisoners are bound to pay to the 
attainment of that end,— thus improving their trans- 
portation for the highest purposes. 

18. On the prayers which have been offered up to 
God for their salvation : a father's— a mother's prayers 
—a father's, a mother's, and it may be, a husband or 
wife's broken heart ! 

19. On the necessity of wholesome government and 
sound discipline; and the fearful effects which would 
certainly result from the absence of such restraint. 
Just punishment is an unspeakable mercy to the State 
— to the World — to the Universe! 

20. On the duty of prisoners, as well as free ser- 
vants, to cherish a proper respect for their master, 
arid a due regard for his interests : to be not only 



INSTRUCTION SUITED TO CONVICTS. 237 

frugal of time, but punctual, methodical, and careful in 
the performance of their work ; recollecting how much 
their own comfort, and that of a family, or of an)' es- 
tablishment, depends on every servant — every member 
of that family or establishment — accurately moving in 
his own proper sphere, and punctually performing his 
assigned and proper quantum of duty. They are to 
be faithful in going messages, — not turning out of their 
proper path either to the right or left, — never loiter- 
ing by the way, and most carefully avoiding all com- 
munication with improper and disreputable persons. 
In a word, they are conscientiously and watchfully to 
obey lawful orders, and never to speak disrespectfully 
of their master, or of any member of his household; 
they are to repudiate the character of a tattler, a tale- 
bearer, a busy body, and an idler; they are to pray 
for the peace and prosperity of the family or establish- 
ment to which they belong, and are to use every le- 
gitimate effort to promote both. 

21. On the importance of personal and habitual 
cleanliness, tidiness, moderation, and modesty in their 
dress, which should ever be in keeping with their sta- 
tion in life, and in harmony with the spirit and pre- 
cepts of Christianity. They are never to accept of 
money, or presents from any one, unless it clearly, and 
without all doubt, appear that such are offered on 
proper grounds, and with good and honourable mo- 
tives. 

22. On the importance of giving no more time to 
sleep, and rest, than duty to God and man require and 
allow, maintaining as far as possible the practice of 



238 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



devoutly reading a due portion of the Word of ' 
daily, and storing their minds with its facts and doc- 
trines, its precepts and promises; of engaging two or 
three times a day in the solemn exercise of prayer, 
and carrying about with them the spirit of true devo- 
tion; of making every possible and lawful arrange- 
ment in order to assemble with the family for the wor- 
ship of God, and to enjoy the privileges of domestic 
piety. 

23. On the duty of co-operating with their master 
and fellow-servants, for the momentous purpose of se- 
curing the scriptural observance of the Lord's Day. 
They are first to give themselves to Christ, and then 
to the church of Christ, and thankfully avail them- 
selves of every lawful opportunity of meeting with 
His people in all those holy ordinances of His house, 
which were instituted by Him, and which His word 
requires us to observe. 

24. On the vast — the unutterable importance of the 
uniform observation of the Seventh Commandment, and 
all the other commandments of the Most High, as 
set forth in the Scriptures, and especially in the New 
Testament. On the nature and design, the awful 
sanctions, the duties, obligations, and privileges of the 
marriage covenant; which is to be entered into law- 
fully, prudently, with a supreme regard to the Divine 
glory, and a due respect to mutual comfort, happiness, 
and usefulness. The bearings of that solemn covenant 
on ti; ing parties themselves; on their temporal, 
spiritual, and eternal interests; and, beyond all human 
calculation, on the temporal and everlasting welfare 



INSTRUCTION SUITED TO CONVICTS. 239 

of others. The positive injunction which God hath, 
in His word, laid on all his believing people not to en- 
ter into marriage alliances with the people of the 
world — the unregenerate children of the wicked one. 
25. On the necessity of convicts cultivating an hum- 
ble, meek, and gentle spirit — being submissive, con- 
tented, and thankful; of ever remembering the injury 
they have inflicted on their country ; the expense to 
which they have put the Government ; the connexion 
which subsists between crime, and shame and suffer- 
ing; and the reproach to which they have subjected 
themselves. Although persons under the influence of 
vital Christianity will think and feel correctly concern- 
ing prisoners, and will seek to do them all possible good, 
they must remember that mere nominal Christians, 
who know not the plague of their own hearts, and 
have not felt the power of the love of Christ, cannot 
be expected to have the same Christian sentiments to- 
wards them; so that they must lay their account to 
meet with much reproach, scorn, and contempt from 
the people of the world ; and must learn meekly to 
submit to it,— never answering again, but secretly, in 
faith and prayer, committing themselves to Him who 
judgeth righteously, and who, even in their low and 
degraded estate, will never leave — never forsake them. 
They are now to seek, according to the Divine will, 
that the evil which they have brought upon themselves 
be overruled, and, in great mercy, made subservient 
to the advancement of God's glory, and their own and 
each other's good. They are to keep always in their 
hearts those gracious words, "Cast thy burden upon 



240 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



the Lord, and He shall sustain thee;"* "In all thy 
ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy 
paths;"f "When a man's ways please the Lord, He 
maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him;"J 
"Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thy- 
self in any wise to do evil*."§ They should study 
closely the whole of Psalm xxxvii.; and while they 
make a proper use of Psalm lxxxix., especially of 
verses 30 — 34, they must be constantly familiar with 
that most valuable and suitable chapter, 1 Pet. ii., and 
ever abide under the sanctifying and conforming influ- 
ence of the example of Christ, and of all the precepts 
and promises of His Gospel. 

But the points on which the prisoners are most fre- 
quently and prayerfully urged, are their individual 
guilt and danger as sinners in the sight of God ; the 
perfection, suitableness, and freeness of the salva- 
tion of Christ; the scriptural facts, that it is command- 
ed to be proclaimed to every member of the human 
family, and that every indi vicinal who hears it, is by 
the Lord himself commanded to believe it, and obtain 
pardon and purity, life and joy. The momentous but 
neglected doctrine, that all men, as subjects of the Di- 
vine government, are under a moral obligation to give 
an immediate and unhesitating credit to the testimony 
of the Most High, to whatever subject it may relate, 
and are therefore bound to believe his testimony con- 
cerning the Lord Jesus Christ, as the all-sufficient and 
only Saviour of sinners, — is continually kept before 

* Psa. lv. 22. \ Prov. xvi. 7. 

\ Prov iii. 6. $ Fsa. xxxvii. R. 



INSTRUCTION SUITED TO CONVICTS. 241 

the minds of the people, and pressed upon their under- 
standing and conscience. To refuse to believe the 
testimony of God is to adopt with reverence the lan- 
guage of an inspired apostle, "to make Him," or pro- 
nounce Him to be, "a liar!" and, therefore fearfully 
to increase our guilt and danger. Jesus, the Son of 
God, is revealed in the Scriptures, as the Substitute 
for sinners, who by His obedience and death hath 
brought in everlasting righteousness; and sinners of 
every class and condition are authorized and required 
in the Scriptures to avail themselves of it, and by faith 
to put on that glorious righteousness for justification, 
and acceptance, for present and everlasting peace. 
This robe of righteousness, this wedding garment, 
this linen clean and white, is exhibited in the inspired 
Scriptures to these " prisoners of hope," and they 
either by faith throw off the filthy rags of their own 
righteousness, and put it on ; or they hold fast their 
own unseemly rags, and choose to continue and to 
perish in the attire of their iniquity, rather than be 
saved in the Divinely-provided raiment of the believ- 
ing children of God. 

Those who have been enlightened by Divine truth, 
must be deeply and firmly convinced, that nothing is 
capable of producing a radical and permanent improve- 
ment in the character and habits of man, but just views 
of himself and of his Maker; and that such views 
are to be obtained only from that revelation which the 
Father of mercies has been graciously pleased to give 
us. Even the most amiable and moral among us are, 
in the sight of God, dead in trespasses and sins, until, 
21 



2 12 THE CONVICT SUIT. 

through belief of the Gospel, they become a new crea- 
tion in Christ Jesus, by the quickening influences of 

the Spirit of truth and holiness: and the same Al- 
mighty power is necessary for the conversion to God 
of a convict. 

And not only must both the moral and the vicious 
experience that saving change before they can do any 
thing upon right principles ; but, even keeping their 
eternal salvation out of view, little good is, in my 
apprehension, to be expected from what is commonly 
called " the crime class of our population," until brought 
under the illuminating and sanctifying power of the 
Scriptures, and the gracious influences of the Holy 
Spirit ; for they will, with few exceptions, persevere 
in a course of iniquity, the bane of social order, and 
totally unworthy of confidence, until they are brought 
back to God and to godliness, by the faith of the Gos- 
pel. Change of heart is the only ground on which I 
expect satisfactory change of conduct. So accustomed 
are some of them to vice ; so hardened in iniquity ; so 
utterly devoid of all sense of propriety and decorum ; 
so insensible to the excellencies and attractions of 
virtue; so sunk in their own estimation, and (as they 
apprehend) in the estimation of mankind ; that, if we 
desire to see these unhappy men become worthy of that 
degree of trust, without which they cannot be safely 
permitted to mingle in general society, we shall aim 
at noticing short of their conversion to God. It is my 
sober conviction, that nothing less than a saving change 
of heart will warrant our placing confidence in the 
more hardened and depraved of those who suffer 






CHRISTIAN MOTIVES — REFORMATION. 243 

transportation, or furnish a sufficient guarantee that 
they will prove safe and useful members of the com- 
munity. The same observations will, I believe, 
equally apply to thousands of our population, who 
escape the punishments both of imprisonment and 
transportation. 

Supreme love to God is not only the principle upon 
which alone we can perform even a single work ac- 
ceptable in His sight, but it also secures active and un- 
wearied obedience to the whole of His revealed will. 
Supreme love to God admits of no substitute. But 
let this holy and heavenly principle be, by the Spirit 
of God, generated in any man's heart, and, from that 
moment, he is under the influence of a mighty and 
transforming pow T er; — a power, the tendency of which 
is, to diffuse itself throughout his whole nature, and 
reduce to its own holy character all that he is and 
feels, thinks and does. 

Entertaining these sentiments, — held in common, I 
believe, by all true Christians, — it is incumbent upon 
us to use every possible means, in dependence on the 
Spirit of all grace, to bring the minds and hearts of 
the prisoners into contact with the momentous truths 
of the Gospel. He alone, wdio created the soul at the 
first, can create it anew in Christ Jesus unto good 
works. The same Almighty power wdiich called into 
existence an archangel, is requisite to turn the apostate 
heart of man back again to God, and to restamp upon 
it the Divine image. Salvation is wholly of the Lord. 

In dealing with convicts, it is necessary that our 
minds be constantly under the influence of these views. 



244 TIJL CONVICT SHIP. 

We cannot too completely set aside self as nothing — 
less than nothing— sinful dust and ashes; nor too 
deeply feel that it is utterly impossible for us to impart 
to the mind of a fellow-sinner a single truly spiritual 
idea. We must consent to become as the rough un- 
polished horn of the priests before the walls of Jericho, 
and, as it were, to be merely spoken thiough, to our 
fellow-sinners, by the Spirit of all truth and grace. 
And we cannot put too much confidence in God, that 
He will give efficacy to His own word ; nor too ear- 
nestly plead with Him, in humble and scriptural prayer, 
on behalf of those whom at His command we seek to 
bring to Himself. Proceeding thus, we are warranted 
1o expect that the God of all mercy will, through our 
humble instrumentality, speak to the heart of the con- 
vict, and, by the moral renovation of his nature and 
principles, ensure the conformity of his life to the spirit 
and precepts of the Gospel, as well as to the laws of 
the land : " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto 
Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy 
truth's sake." (Psalm cxv.) 

LAST ADDRESS. 

After tracing the gracious providence of God in 
any circumstances of the voyage which may afford 
occasion for special thanksgiving, I proceed nearly as 
follows: 

Our eventful voyage has come to a close, and our 
interesting sojourn together on board this transport 
terminates with to-morrow's dawn. The time which 



LAST ADDRESS BEFORE DEBARKATION. 245 

has been thus occupied, forms a most important period 
of your existence. The providence of God has been 
conspicuously and graciously exercised towards you. 
You have been collected from all quarters of the 
British empire, — some of you from foreign nations,— 
and placed, for four or five months under a course of 
instruction, the grand object of which is to restore 
you to the knowledge, favour, and likeness of God, 
and to fit you for serving and enjoying Him for ever! 

There is not among you, to the best of my know- 
ledge, a man or a boy who has not declared, in the 
Divine presence, that he believes himself to be a guilty, 
lost sinner, and Jesus to be the only Saviour from sin 
and from the wrath to come. The question now is. 
What has been secretly transacted between your own 
hearts and God ? Have you felt the enormity of your 
guilt? Have you been made deeply sensible of the 
depravity of your nature? Have you been humbled to 
the very dust under a just apprehension of your crimes, 
committed against your country's laws, against society, 
and against God? And have you, in very deed, come, 
in deep contrition of heart, to " the Fountain opened 
for sin and for uncleanness " — even the fountain of the 
blessed Redeemer's atoning blood — and, by washing 
in that fountain, have you had your sin all taken 
away, and obtained deliverance from its wages and 
its power? 

Think now on all the truth w 7 hich has been declared 

to you; think on the tenderness of your heavenly 

Father's love, the unsearchable riches of Christ's 

redeeming grace, the faithful and gracious strivings 

21* 



246 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

and long-suffering of the Holy Spirit; think on the 
blessedness you secure to yourselves by receiving the 
salvation published to you in the Gospel, and the 
ceaseless wretchedness which by your rejection of the 
Saviour, you deliberately choose. 

I have endeavoured, though in much weakness, to 
declare unto you the whole counsel of God; and have 
kept back from you no truth He hath revealed for 
your instruction and salvation, and which time and 
ability have permitted me to declare, invariably en- 
treating you to bring all I have said to the test of 
His word — thereby to prove all things; .rejecting 
whatever is at variance with its spirit and precepts, 
and holding fast only that which is in accordance 
with the Divine mind. I humbly trust that I am free 
from the blood of all of you as it respects your in- 
struction. With Jesus Christ set before you in the 
Scriptures, and the command of God that you should 
believe in Him for salvation, addressed to you— if 
you perish, you 'perish! But know that you perish 
in the wilful rejection of God's deliverance/ 

Let us remember, that a fearful responsibility at- 
taches to us all. I am responsible for my fidelity in 
teaching you the way of life; and you are responsible 
for the use you make of all the truth that has been 
set before you, because it is written, (Luke viii. 18,) 
"Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much 
be required;" — "Take heed, then, how ye bear," 
(Matt. xi. 24,) Oh, take heed how you treat the Son 
of God ! Not one of you can go on shore as you 
came on board! You all disembark to-monow 



LAST ADDRESS BEFORE DEBARKATION. 247 

morning, either improved in character, or fearfully 
hardened. All of you have had the salvation of Christ 
fully and freely pressed upon your acceptance; and 
every one of you leaves this vessel in the character of 
one who has either accepted or rejected it! Oh, let 
me beseech you to lay this to heart, and to remember, 
that you carry along with you that Bible, according 
to which you shall be judged at the last day! 

You, who have professed to embrace Christ as all 
your salvation and all your desire, I most earnestly 
beseech to be very watchful over your future conduct. 
Recollect that you are not your own, but bought with 
a price, and are under the highest obligations to serve 
Him who purchased you to Himself by His precious 
blood. Remember what is required of him whom the 
Scriptures denominate a temple of the Holy Ghost. 
Keep steadily in mind the tendency of your example; 
and recollect that your individual example must be 
productive of incalculable good or evil. The eyes of 
men and of angels are upon you; God Himself is the 
constant witness of your thoughts, temper, and con- 
duct; and the believer's God is a consuming fire , and 
cannot spare, in the objects of His new covenant love, 
the dross of corruption and sin. Oh ! remember that 
He requires all His children to be holy, even as He is 
holy — holy in heart, holy in speech, holy in conduct. 
Remember that the tendency of holy living, is, to win 
souls to Christ and to a participation in the blessings 
of everlasting life ; and that the tendency of unholy 
living, is, to destroy souls, and consign them to the 
regions of eternal fire. Forget not that you have no 



248 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

evidence of the reality of your faith in Christ, if it 
sanctify not your heart and life. — If the tree is good, 
the fruit must be good ; if the fruit is bad, the tree 
must be also bad. If you are living branches of the 
true Vine, you will exhibit, not merely the green 
leaves of a scriptural profession, but such fruit of holy 
living, as will redound to the glory of your Father 
who is in heaven. 

Beware of the first approaches of temptation to sin, 
whether in thought, desire, word, or deed. Oh! he 
on your guard against new temptations; and let me 
earnestly beseech you, ever to bear in mind, that your 
only safety lies in habitually abiding in Christ, anil 
relying on His strength. Be assured, that severed 
from Christ you have no security! If lie does not 
hold you up, and keep you clinging to II im in faith, 
love, and holy obedience, you will most assuredly fall, 
bring fresh guilt upon your conscience, grieve the 
Holy Spirit, destroy your peace, give the enemies of 
God occasion to blaspheme, endanger your future 
usefulness, and perhaps inflict such spiritual injury 
upon yourselves, that you may perform the remainder 
of your journey halting, even to the borders of your 
grave! Take heed, then, watch and pray, that ye 
enter not into temptation. Keep your hearts with all 
diligence, and, with the heart, keep the door of your 
lips. At the very first approaches of sin, flee away 
— flee to the Cross, escape to your knees, wrestle in 
prayer for the needed deliverance, and cease not, 
until, through Divine grace, you have obtained the 
victory: for be ye well assured, that if you do not 






LAST ADDRESS BEFORE DEBARKATION. 249 

destroy your spiritual enemies, they will destroy you ! 
It is not enough that you offer up cold, heartless pe- 
titions, and then return to the influence of the temp- 
tation, you must agonize in prayer, you must keep 
aloof from the temptation, in thought, in look, and in 
approach ; it must be driven far hence from your soul, 
or your soul must flee far hence from the temptation. 
You must abide in Christ; and walk in the Spirit; 
you must think on your heavenly Father's love; 
have your conversation in heaven; and not lift off 
your eyes from Jesus, but contemplate Him in His 
sufferings, and in His glory ; looking forward to the 
period, when you shall see Him as He is, and when 
He shall . present to His Father, without spot and 
blameless, all w 7 ho while on earth cultivated holiness, 
and followed Him in the regeneration of their hearts. 

Recollect the duties which Jesus Christ hath been 
graciously pleased to enjoin on all his followers : your 
duties to God and to man. With considerable mi- 
nuteness they have been set before you during your 
voyage. You will find them all in the pages of your 
Bible, which you are required diligently and prayer- 
fully to search. In all things follow out your Bible, 
and you will be a blessing to all with whom you may 
come in contact, and therefore to the whole colony. 
Be faithful to God, according to the requirements and 
spirit of His word ; and you will be faithful also to 
man. 

I particularly urge upon you the necessity of cul- 
tivating great tenderness of conscience, and extreme 
exactness in the discharge of duty. Be conscientiously 



250 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

attentive to every minute circumstance connected with 

your duty. Guard against inattention to what may 
be considered little tilings, which go to make up a 
great deal of the sum of human life, and a due regard 
to which will contribute, in no small degree, to stamp 
your character, and affect the comfort of all with 
whom you have to do. The great fault of that 
valuable portion of the community called "servants," 
generally, is, the neglect of the minor points, of their 
duty — negligence as to " little things." The con- 
sistent Christian will, in every thing, scrupulously 
guard against every just cause of offence. - He will 
be thoughtful, attentive, considerate; accustom him- 
self to reflect, and remember every injunction laid upon 
him; and will perform every duty heartily, and to the 
best of his ability, to the Lord, and not merely to 
man. 

Let me beseech you to walk humbly, closely, and 
habitually with God. Manifest the spirit of your 
Lord and Master, doing good to them that hate you, 
praying for them that despitefully use you, and che- 
rishing love and good-will even to your bitterest ene- 
mies. It is through much tribulation that you are to 
enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but to Him who 
died for you, and is now exalted at the right hand of 
the Majesty on high, be ye faithful ; and although 
you may be called, while in this world, to pass as it 
were through fire and water, He will, according to 
His promise, bring you at last into a wealthy place. 

To you who have, up to the present moment, put 
the gift of God, Christ Jesus, away from you, and 






LAST ADDRESS BEFORE DEBARKATION. 251 

have refused to accept of pardon and of life, I can say 
only a few words. Remember that the free and 
unfettered salvation of the Gospel has been fully de- 
clared to yon. You have now "no cloak for your 
sin." You have heard the voice of the Holy Spirit 
speaking to you in the words of His servant John, 
"Behold the Lamb of God who taketli away the sins 
of the world! " You have heard His words by the 
Apostle of the Gentiles, " Believe in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and thou shalt be saved ;"* and again, by John, 
"He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlast- 
ing life: and he that believeth not the Son of God 
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on 
him."f Oh ! be persuaded to accept of Him, who 
of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, 
and sanctification, and redemption. Can it be that 
there stands before me a man or a boy who has 
formed the ungrateful and desperate resolution, that 
his last act on board this transport shall be a repeti- 
tion of his rejection of Christ ; and that in setting 
his foot on these shores, he will do so in the character 
of an enemy of God, a contemner of His mercy, a 
despiser of His covenant, and a slave of sin, who re- 
fuses to be a partaker of the glorious liberty of the 
children of God ? 

Let me entreat you to improve the moments you 
are yet permitted to spend on board. Let this night 
record your submission to God by the belief of His 
testimony concerning His Son Christ Jesus. Let 

* Acts xvi. 31. t J °h n '"• 30. 



252 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

there be this night joy among the angels in heaven 
over the return of every wandering prodigal among 
us. Remember, that, wherever you are in this world, 
whatever you may be engaged in, it is still true that 
Jesus is the Saviour of sinners; and that him who 
cometh to Him, He will in no wise cast out. But oh! 
recollect, it is also true, that every hour you live in 
sin, and in the neglect of the mercy of God published 
in the Gospel, you render your heart harder and 
harder, fearfully increase the sum of your guilt, and 
make your conversion to God, morally, more and 
more improbable. If you listen to the dictates of 
heavenly wisdom, you will now credit what Gcd 
saith unto you in His Word: you will at once flee for 
refuge to Jesus, and yield yourselves wholly up to the 
Lord, to be qualified by His Spirit for serving and en- 
joying him for ever ! Then, indeed, will your stay upon 
the earth, whether of short or long duration, be marked 
by the blessed effects of Divine love upon your hearts; 
your light will shine before men, and commend to all 
around you the glorious gospel of the blessed God. 
But if you persist in refusing to submit yourselves unto 
God in the faith and obedience of the Gospel, you not 
only consign your souls to eternal destruction, but give 
no reason to calculate on your ever proving trust- 
worthy members of society. I tell you candidly, I 
myself could place no unhesitating confidence in any 
of you as members of my family, unless your temper 
and conduct gave scriptural evidence of your conver- 
sion to God. And I am quite prepared to hear, that 
such of you as have no fear of God, nor conscientious 



LAST ADDRESS BEFORE DEBARKATION. 253 

regard for his approbation, will not be many days in 
the colony before you yield to temptation, fall into 
some crime, bring more infamy upon your character, 
and subject yourselves to additional sufferings. All I 
can now do for you is, to warn you, beseech you, and 
pray for you. 

I solemnly repeat my warning respecting disobe- 
dience to any lawful command of those in authority 
over you. Remember that disobedience to lawful 
commands is one of the greatest and most pernicious 
crimes of which you can be guilty. What expelled 
angels from heaven, and converted them into devils? 
— Disobedience. What separated our first parents 
from God, and subjected them and their offspring to 
the loss of holiness and happiness? — Disobedience. 
What is the cause of all the misery and death that 
abound in the world? — Disobedience. What is the 
cause of your present and future sufferings? — Disobe- 
dience. What w T as it that prepared hell? — Disobe- 
dience. And what did man's disobedience require ere 
man could be restored to purity and to bliss? — Nothing 
less than the incarnation, sufferings and obedience, 
even unto death, of the Son of God! Can any of 
you, then, think lightly of disobedience? Let the oc- 
casion of your disobedience be what it may ; let the 
thing about which you are disobedient be as insignifi- 
cant as the turning of a straw; if the command be 
lawful, and you disobey that command, you are guilty 

Of the HEINOUS TRANSGRESSION OF DISOBEDIENCE 

you are chargeable with that sin which expelled the 
22 



254 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

angels from heaven, and which lost a world! Study 
1 Sam. xv. 22, 23. 

I would also entreat you to remember what has 
been said to you respecting improper and dangerous 
associates. Avoid, as much as possible, the company 
of wicked men, the tendency of whose example must 
ever be to destroy you. Let them feel the benign in- 
fluence of good example and of good counsel, but re- 
main not in their society when it can be avoided. 
When it cannot, then recollect that you owe it to God, 
to them, and to yourselves, to he faithful. ■ Be faith- 
ful to your Bible, and you will not only be kept from 
falling yourselves, but your conduct will call the at- 
tention of your associates to Him, who can effectually 
save both you and them from sin and death. 

The greatest snare to which you will be exposed on 
shore is the use of intoxicating liquors; no vice is 
more calculated to lead you into the practice of other 
vices than drunkenness; it proves the overthrow of 
more prisoners than any other evil habit whatever. 
Take heed, then, that you never permit one drop of 
the intoxicating and destructive poison to cross your 
lips, unless prescribed by a medical practitioner for 
disease — a circumstance which is not likely often to 
happen. 

With reference farther to your future conduct, let 
me hope that you will all benefit by past experience. 
You have already had sufficient proof of the connex- 
ion between evil-doing and suffering; you have now 
found out that "the way of transgressors is hard;"* 

•Prov. xiii. 15. 



LAST ADDRESS BEFORE DEBARKATION. 255 

and that the tendency of their " perverseness" is to 
"destroy them:"* I trust you will now experience, 
that wisdom's u ways are ways of pleasantness, and 
all her paths are peace. "f Most, if not all of you, 
are now able to compare the peace and comfort con- 
nected with well-doing, with the infamy and wretch- 
edness which spring from evil-doing; and I beseech 
you to profit by the experience. Some of you have 
long felt the pain and remorse that are the fruits of ig- 
norance, irregularity and crime; why then should you 
desire to drink deeper in the cup from which you have 
already taken so many bitter draughts? Remember 
the gracious remonstrance of the God of Israel with 
his ungrateful and rebellious children: "Hear, O 
heavens; and give ear, Dearth; for the Lord hath 
spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, 

and they have rebelled against Me They have 

forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One 
of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward? 
Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt 
more and more: the whole head is sick, and the 
whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even 
unto the head, there is no soundness in it; but wounds, 
and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been 
closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oint- 
ment."! The people for whom God had done so 
much, remained insensible to His goodness and mercy, 
turned their backs upon Him, and subjected themselves 
to severe and repeated expressions of the Divine dis- 

* Prov. xi. 3. t Prov. iii. 17. \ Isa. i. 2, 4—6. 



26i) TITE CONVICT SHIP. 

pleasure. And did their character improve under the 
chastening hand of God ? Did they seek, in deep 
humility and contrition, the sanctified use of their mul- 
tiplied afflictions? No; they persevered in the obsti- 
nacy of their rebellion, and called for more strokes 
from the rod of their Almighty and long-suffering 
Father, until they were smitten all over, and covered 
from head to foot with wounds, and bruises, and pu- 
trefying sores. 

And have not you long abused the loving-kindness 
and sparing mercy of the Lord ? Have net you la- 
mentably misimproved the repeated chastisements to 
which your repeated offences have subjected you, and 
grievously provoked the Divine displeasure? Why 
should you subject yourselves to be stricken any more ? 
Why should you be imprisoned any more? Why 
should you be ironed any more? W T hy should your 
flesh be lacerated by the scourge any more? Why 
should you subject yourselves to any more of the pe- 
nalties of the law? Have you not already tasted enough 
of the bitterness of transgression? Have you utterly 
cast off all desire for the approbation of God? Have 
you calculated the consequences of perseverance in re- 
bellion against Him? Oh! have, you thought of the 
agonies w T hich you are laying up in store for your- 
selves, by your voluntary rejection of the Son of God? 
Are your hearts not affected by the consideration of 
the pernicious influence of your example? A world 
that has broken loose from its proper orbit may carry 
far and wide physical ruin and confusion among sur- 
rounding worlds; but the irregular course of one sin- 



LAST ADDRESS BEFORE DEBARKATION. 257 

ner, of one convict, may be productive of far greater 
evil, — his path may be marked by a more fearful de- 
vastation: his lawless progress away from the Sun of 
Righteousness, must be seen in the terribleness of its 
moral havoc among the immortal souls of men ; perhaps 
among beings also of a higher order; and his charac- 
ter and destiny are those of the "wandering stars, to 
whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever!"* 
Hear, then, all ye whose hearts, up to the present 
moment, have been stout against the Lord: hear ye 
again the proclamation of mercy, "As I live, saith the 
Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the 
wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and 
live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why 
will ye die, O house of Israel? "f " Be ye reconciled 
unto God. For He hath made Him who knew no sin 
to be sin for us, that w 7 e might be made the righteous- 
ness of God in Him. "J — " He that heareth My word, 
and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting 
life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is 
passed from death unto life."§ Suffer me to implore 
the whole of you, not to add another hour to the pe- 
riod of your rebellion and unbelief. Look unto Jesus, 
and live! Cleave to Him with purpose of heart; fol- 
low Him fully; holding fast the beginning of the con- 
fidence, and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the 

END. || 

To-morrow morning you quit this vessel ; a vessel 

* Jude 1 3. 
I Ezek. xxxiii. 11. t 2 Cor. v. 20, 21. 

§ John v. 24. || Heb. iii. 6, 14. 

22* 



2-5S the courier ship. 

the remembrance of which must be for ever associated 
with your future destinies, be they what they may; 
whether the destinies of the despisers of mercy, or of 
the humble followers of the Lamb of God. Of our 
conduct on board this ship, of our treatment of Christ, 
and of His great salvation, you and I must render an 
account ! 

We shall all meet again — I say that we shall all 
meet again! It may not be in this life. But we shall 
meet with an assembled world, together with holy and 
with fallen angels. We shall form part of that awful as- 
sembly which will be present on the Day of Judgment, 
and in the proceedings of that day we shall not be 
mere spectators; no! but we shall be personally and 
intensely interested. Let us now choose the position 
we shall occupy in the presence of the Judge. Let 
us now decide whether we shall look up with joy, and 
behold in Him our blessed Advocate and High Priest, 
engaged in His new-covenant love to save us, and to 
bring us to glory; or whether, under the overwhelm- 
ing power of conscious guilt, we shall cry to the rocks 
to fall on us, and hide us from the wrath of the Lamt, 
and from the glory of His power. Oh ! let every one 
of us now choose, whether our abode shall be with 
the unbelievers and the unholy, in everlasting burn- 
ings* or with the sanctified in Christ Jesus, whose 
names are written in Heaven, and whom the blessed 
Saviour will present faultless before the presence of 
His glory, with exceeding joy.f 

* I*a. xxxiii. 14. ] Judc 24 ; Matt, xxv.; Isa. xxxv. 



LAST ADDRESS BEFORE DEBARKATION. 259 

May God, in His abundant and great mercy, grant 
that all the prisoners whom He hath been pleased, on 
repeated occasions, to commit to my care, during the 
passage to Australia, and all those whom I have ad- 
dressed in the Colony, may be graciously led " into 
all truth ;" and, under the abiding influence of the 
Saviour's love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy 
Spirit, be preserved in the faith and obedience of the 
Gospel to everlasting life, unto the praise of the glory 
of the riches of Divine grace. And may all other 
prisoners be duly instructed in the knowledge of the 
sacred Scriptures, and as " prisoners of hope" # flee 
for refugef to the atoning blood of the Cross, giving 
evidence that they have surrendered their hearts to 
the Lord, by walking in His footsteps, under the 
sanctifying influences of His Spirit, and in accordance 
with His blessed will, as set forth in His written and 
inspired Word. 



COLONIAL TESTIMONIES 



5? 



CONCERNING CONVICTS BY THE "EARL GREY, AND 
FORMER SHIPS. 

Inquiries have frequently been made in England 
respecting the behaviour, after their arrival in the co- 
lony, of prisoners who made a profession of faith in 
Christ while under my charge. But it is not possible 
for me to give a satisfactory reply to such inquiries, 
because circumstances do not admit of my obtaining 

* Zech. ix. 12. f Isa. lx. 8; Hcb. vi. IP. 



260 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



adequate information, which ought to be not only cor- 
rect, but minute and circumstantial. My stay at Ho- 
bart Town has always been so short as to give me 
little opportunity of tracing their history ; for they are 
scattered about at different, and sometimes distant sta- 
tions, and when they obtain their freedom they some- 
times withdraw- from Van Diemen's Land, and settle 
in some of the other Australian colonies. 

I am thankful to be able to state, however, that all 
I have learnt concerning those men who P-ave evidence 
of reformation on board, has in general been most 
satisfactory. 

One gentleman sent me a message, to the effect, that 
if I had brought out any more such men as those he 
obtained from one of my former ships, he wished to 
have two of them, jfor he never lead such servants on 
his farm before. 

Another gentleman, who engaged a man from my 
earliest ship, has for many years entrusted him with 
the superintendence of some works, at a large salary; 
and he assured me, that he believes there is not a 
better man in the country. Several of my men have 
been placed also in confidential situations, under Go- 
vernment officers. 

A minister of Christ lately testified to me, on his 
own knowledge, that one of my men by the Elphin- 
stone, a shepherd by occupation, had walked most 
consistently according to the spirit and precepts of the 
Gospel, for a period of three years and a half prior to 
the date of his communication; and, that in the district 
in which his lot was cast, he was known amongst the 



COLONIAL TESTIMONIES. 261 

people as " the good shepherd" so singularly excellent 
was his Christian character. 

Through private channels I have received most gra- 
tifying information respecting other individuals who 
had been under my care ; but that information is not 
so extensive as I should desire, nor is it communicated 
in such a shape as to warrant my giving it to the pub- 
lic. Having no memoranda at present within my 
reach, many men, of whom I had a good report, have 
escaped my memory; but I can count up between 
forty and fifty whom I know to have been conducting 
themselves with great propriety, and to be doing well 
in various situations, under private masters — in go- 
vernment employ — or, in trades and business on their 
own account. 

Of the men who arrived by the Earl Grey, I re- 
ceived when last at Hobart Town, after they had been 
two years and a half in the colony, the most pleasing 
reports. Several of them, including two who w 7 ere 
most active and useful during the voyage, I saw, and 
was delighted with their apparent steadfastness in the 
faith and obedience of the Gospel; moreover several 
of those men who did not appear, while on board, to 
have been deeply impressed by Divine truth, were 
credibly reported to me as having turned to the Lord 
since they landed, or rather since they had been eman- 
cipated from the baneful influence of the Probation 
Gang. A letter is subjoined, from one of the men 
who had been most active and useful to me in the Earl 
Grey, written after he had finished his term of pro- 
bation, which, along with other evidence which I have 



262 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

received, proves the satisfactory tone of his mind, and 
that he had so far stood the test of close contact with 
unreformed convicts of the most wretched and debased 
character. 

It was the intention of the late Comptroller-General, 
Captain Forster, to supply me with a list of my men, 
exhibiting their colonial character as it stood in his 
books; but that officer was removed by death before 
his intention was accomplished; and those who under- 
stand the nature of such official reports, know that 
they can but imperfectly assist us in forming' a just es- 
timate of the moral principles and character of the 
men to whom they refer. I must, therefore, content 
myself with giving a few extracts from various au- 
thentic documents, and would only observe that in 
giving these extracts respecting the prisoners, I am 
placed under the painful necessity of including portions 
which allude to myself; but I hope they will be viewed 
as referring to the system of instruction and discipline 
which I endeavour to carry into effect, rather than as 
alluding to me personally. 



probation" described by a convict. 263 



EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER OF A CONVICT 



DESCRIBING " PROBATION. 

The following letter was written by TV. B., a convict 
often referred to as one of my most efficient helpers on 
board the "Earl Grey" and contains the history of 
some of my men after they landed. It is fitted to 
excite a spirit of prayer for unhappy convicts, and to 
open the eyes of some in our land, who are so deluded 
as to count transportation a boon! 



. . . "Surely it becomes me to unite with the 
church as she sings, Isa. xii., 'O Lord, I will praise 
thee; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is 
turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God 
is my salvation ; I will trust and not be afraid, for the 
Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is 
become my salvation.' Oh, it is heaven in the soul 
of the poor sinner, deserving only present and eternal 
misery, when he can say and feel, without presumption 
and without hesitation, 'God is my salvation!' 

"A new scene in life has just begun with me. For 
two years and upwards I have been serving under 
' Probation,' and a trying- time I found it; but, thank 
the Lord, I can now breathe a purer air, and can lift 
up my head (as far as a convict can) once more in 



264 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

society, having just escaped from the dreadful society 
of the Probation Gang. ... I need not attempt to de- 
scribe the anxious solicitude I have felt about you and 
my child. My heart has often ached when T have 
thought of you. Most of my letters, (which I doubt 
whether you ever received,) were written 'in the 
Bush,' with a flat stone for my table, and a sheet of 
bark, from the peppermint-tree, for my seat — a spot 
rendered dear to me, as the place of retreat where I 
often found the Lord's saving and consoling presence. 

" My object in now giving you a history df my past 
sufferings, is to give you a true description of the poor 
prisoner when banished in consequence of crime, and to 
awaken your tenderest sympathies and most earnest 
prayers for your suffering brethren and sisters here; 
'tis not to utter a complaining word, for I feel I de- 
serve tenfold more punishment, or rather chastisement, 
than any which I have as yet received. Thanks to 
the Lord, I am not in hopeless misery in hell! 

"On Jan. 14, 1843, we arrived here; and in a few 
days were separated, and most of us sent into the in- 
terior, to our appointed stations. Previous to our dis- 
persion, we had an opportunity of assembling for 
reading the Scriptures and prayer, as we had been 
wont to do on board the ship. We all lodged in one 
poor sorry outhouse, near the barracks, the first night 
we spent on shore in Van Diemen's land. My dear 
companions were all asked if they would unite once 
more together, most likely for the last time, — a pro- 
posal to which they all agreed without one dissentient 
voice; and earnest were the prayers, and deep the 



" probation" described by a convict. 265 

feeling, on behalf of our kind friend and patron we 
were about to part with; and fervently, too, we sought 
Divine wisdom and grace, to guide and bless us in all 
our future steps. 

"The time soon came for us to be marched off. 
Myself and five more shipmates, with twenty old 
hands, were yoked to carts loaded with picks and 
other heavy goods. An overseer took command, and 
at the well-known sound, ' Go on !' off we started, 
not knowing where ; all we knew was that we were 
going to form a new station, fifty miles up the country. 
We had not proceeded many miles before I began to 
feel exhausted ; for just stepping on shore, after a long 
voyage, you may suppose I was unfit for hard travel- 
ling; added to this, my health was but delicate; but 
journey on we must, up rugged hills, beneath a scorch- 
ing sun, and amid the hellish oaths and imprecations 
of our new companions. My ears were unaccustomed 
to such wicked words as proceeded from their lips. 
One particular oath, the first time I heard it uttered, 
made me shudder, and that was from a poor gray- 
headed man when oppressed with dragging those 
heavy carts. It is too awful and too grossly blas- 
phemous to admit of being written ; its purport was a 
wish that he might die that moment, if he moved 
another step; but the Lord had mercy on him,]and 
did not grant his request, for he still moved on. I 
earnestly asked the Lord to stay the poor thing in his 
progress to perdition. Surely, I thought, I shall 
never hear such language again ; but in this I was 
greatly mistaken, for it is common, awfully common, 
23 



266 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

to hear prisoners, and officers too, swear the same oath. 
The Lord have mercy on this devoted colony! 

"We arrived at , and were put within the pri- 
son ; and a sad night I spent as to outward circum- 
stances. We were nearly covered with , and 

other filth, so that we could not lie down. My friend 
and shipmate who was with me on board the hulk, de- 
sirous of doing good, proposed to read a chapter from 
' God's word;' but oh! I shall never forget the dread- 
ful cry they set up! 'You old hypocrite! There's 
no God in Van Diemen's Land, nor shall there be!' 
were the blasphemous words vociferated. Poor things! 
they had no kind and pious surgeon-superintendent to 
bring them out, to instruct and reform their minds, as 
we had. How thankful should we be, and how great 
our responsibility ! Not till then did I find banish- 
ment such a heavy chastisement. To be obliged to 
hear and see what has passed before me, the past two 
years, is a severe and heart-rending affliction. 

" Morning came, and we pursued our journey . We 
had to traverse the Bush, with scarcely a track to 
guide us. Here and there we saw a tent, or met a 
settler. The country became more rugged, but we 
were compelled to drag and labour on, a very hot day, 
until we were nearly exhausted. Night came on ; and 
truly thankful I was to lie down upon the ground, to 
obtain a little repose. We encamped in the Bush, with 
no other shelter but God's own beautiful sky, be- 
spangled with stars. Here we found water, — a great 
blessing to us, for we were parched with thirst, from 
the want of water during the day. Next day, on wc 



"probation" described by a convict. 267 

'went. The Lord was very merciful to me, for I began 
to feel myself more fit for the remainder of the*journey, 
and early in the evening we arrived at the spot to 
which we were ordered. I have been particular in 
describing this journey, for the circumstances connect- 
ed with it made a powerful impression on my mind. 
Never did I see beings sunk so low. Here I beheld 
the fearful effects of the fall. It led me to look at my 
own character and condition, as set forth in the Bible. 
The blasphemous expressions respecting the Holy 
Comforter produced horror in my mind for the moment; 
but I hope they also led me more earnestly to implore 
His gracious presence and power in my soul. 

"At we commenced our work. . . . Then 

began the course of government and discipline to which 
I have been subjected. Gangs marched to the station 

as it enlarged, from , and , and other Second 

Sentence stations. These men are supposed to have 
been reformed; but, alas! their conduct soon evinced 
that the treatment they had received was calculated to 
harden, rather than to soften their moral feeling. They 
soon broke out. Officers commenced their work, bring- 
ing many of them to trial for various offences. The 
'triangle' was erected; the horrid 'cat' I saw with 
grief and pain, flourished about the station by a fellow- 
prisoner, appointed jiagellator. It was soon laid upon 
the backs of the unhappy convicts. Then my sorrows 
began; I was disappointed that a milder system w 7 as 
not in operation. From what I conceived probation 
to be, I expected men would have been instructed and 
drawn, not driven; encouraged^ not at once coerced. 



268 



THE CONVICT SHIP. 



"I should have told you, that for three or four 
months we were tolerably comfortable, owing to the 
influence of a pious visiting magistrate, who was over 
us during that brief period, and paid great attention 
to our spiritual interests, and instructed us, and led 
our worship on most sabbaths; but his stay was short. 
There was no flogging during his time ; but he would 
come and talk with us, as a tender father to his chil- 
dren, and encourage us in every possible way, in the 
pursuit of useful knowledge. After he left us the 
scene changed! Thirty boys, incorrigible', as their 
conduct afterwards proved, were sent to us;, and in- 
stead of being kept separate from the men, and put to 
suitable work, they, to my great surprise, were allowed 
to mix with the men, many of whom were depraved 

in the extreme 

"Oh, let me call forth your pity and your prayers 
for your fellow-creatures, destined like ourselves to 
exist for ever, either in heaven or in hell! They are 
daily passing out of time into eternity, in most cases, 
I fear, unprepared ! . . . . Never did I feel myself 
so degraded, never were my feelings so hurt as now. 
What my mind has suffered through the wickedness 
of my fellow-men, I will not attempt to tell you, for 
I cannot: nevertheless, these things humbled me, and 
brought me low in the dust of self-abasement. Thank 
God, I believe they have induced a tender feeling for 
the souls of these poor creatures ; and though it would 
be worse than useless in me to reason with them, or 
to speak to them on their danger, yet I have prayed 
for them, and still pray for them. With few excep- 



A CONVICT. 269 

tions, no man careth for their souls ; our illegal con- 
duct made us convicts, and our rulers have placed us 
in such circumstances as render the commission of 
crime easy ; they put forth no counteracting influence, 
to bear against the evil spirit that is in man; little 
instruction is afforded to the mind, and that not, in 
my opinion, in the proper mode. I should rejoice to 
see Dr. Browning's plan adopted. It would be an 
invaluable boon to us men and women in bonds, and 
an extensive blessing in this community. . . . Thanks 
be to God, there are some pious men amongst the 
thousands of 'England's Exiles;' but we are all 
lumped together, and held to be a set of rascals and 
vagabonds, and are sometimes called so, by those 
who ought to instruct and encourage us when any 
good signs appear. . . . All this does us no good. I 
never saw T a man or a boy softened and improved by 
flogging, or other harsh measures. A very w T ise man 
once said, you know, (and he spoke by the Spirit,) 
' Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar amongst 
wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart 
from him:' and so it is with flogging ; it only renders 
the feelings more callous, and the effects on the minds 
of others are any thing but salutary. I hope some- 
thing will be done speedily for the bondmen and 
women in this part of the world. I am sure the 
present system is most ruinous both to soul and body. 
Habits of idleness are contracted, they assemble in 
groups, telling each other of the robberies and murders 
they have committed ; and at night in the tents, the 
scene is truly awful. Let me ask you to pray for us, 
23* 



270 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

that God would, by suitable means, send out His light 
and His truth amongst convicts; that they may be 
saved in the Lord, with a present and an everlasting 
salvation ! 

"You see what I have gone through mentally ; for 
what are outward inconveniences, when compared with 
the distress of mind endured in such a state of things? 
Transportation is a terrible evil, to be dreaded above 
all temporal evil. Under such circumstances the 
strongest mind becomes dejected, and the spirit broken. 
Oh, that men and women would take warning, and 
shun the commission of crime, which entails upon the 
offender such indescribable misery! 

"Thank God, I am now in more favourable circum- 
stances. I feel a new man in a new world, though I 
feel the effects of a two years' confinement in the Bush, 
under probation, hanging about me; but, 

The gospel bears my spirits up, 

A faithful and unchanging God 
Lays a foundation for my hope, 

In oaths, and promises, and blood ! 

I have now many privileges, for it is with Christian 
masters that I am placed, and I sit under a gospel 
ministry; and although I have but a prisoner's wages, 
I meet with kindness and encouragement " 



TESTIMONIES CONCERNING CONVICTS. 271 



TESTIMONIES CONCERNING CONVICTS BROUGHT OUT BY THE 
" ARAB," 1834. 

No. 1. — Extract from His Excellency the Governor's 
Certificate. 

"It is a most gratifying duty to record the expression of 
the very high approbation I entertain of Dr. Browning's 
efforts in the discipline and reformation of the convicts during 
the voyage, the success of which has surpassed any thing I 
could have anticipated to have been accomplished in so short 
a period. His mode of classifying the convicts, and the plain 
and simple manner in which he has imparted religious in- 
struction to them, has given an appearance and a mind to these 
prisoners which I have never observed on any former occasion ; 
and I strongly recommend that the approbation of His Ma- 
jesty's Government may be evinced by his being, at the 
earliest period, sent out in charge of another transport. 

(Signed) "Geo. Arthur." 

No. 2. — Extract from a Report, by a Board appointed by His 
Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diem en's Land, 
to inquire into the conduct of the Convicts by the ii JLrab," 
after they had resided five months in the Colony. 

* * * "In obedience to your letter of the 7th 
inst., requesting us to report upon the conduct of the convicts 
who arrived per Arab, compared with that of other prisoners, 
together with our opinion as to the effect produced by the 
discipline and system of instruction persevered in by the 
surgeon-superintendent during the voyage, we beg leave to 
state, for His Excellency's information, that, having attended 
the public examination of those men the day after their ar- 
rival, we were much pleased by the manner in which the 






272 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

convicts exhibited the instruction which they had received 
under Dr. Browning's tuition during- the voyage; and it is 
really astonishing that so much could be imparted in so short 
a time, — particularly to a great many of them, who could 
neither read nor write previously to their being sent on board 
the vessel. 

u It appeared to us that Dr. Browning had been very suc- 
cessful in his classification of the men, by which means a 
number who possessed some rudiments of learning were 
enabled greatly to assist the surgeon, by communicating to 
the more ignorant the knowledge which they themselves 
possessed ; and the whole of the method pursued by Dr. 
Browning has led us to entertain the most favourable opinion 
of his assiduity and attention in every respect, but particularly 
to the religious and moral instruction of the prisoners. Aw\ 
we cannot avoid remarking upon the very judicious im- 
pressions made upon the minds of these prisoners by the 
surgeon-superintendent; and that these have not been thrown 
away, is best shown by the exemplary conduct of the convicts 
who came by the Arab, since their arrival. 

"The superintendent of the barracks reports, that they have 
been invariably clean, sober, and regular, whilst at the same 
time none of them have yet been brought before magistrates, 
for punishment, — a fact which has never before occurred 
within the knowledge of the chief police-magistrate or principal 
superintendent, it usually happening that convicts, after their 
first landing and assignment, meet old comrades on the roml 
to their several masters, and fall into the crime of drunkenness 
and other irregularities. 

(Signed) " M. Forster, Chief Police-Magistrate. 

" Josiah Spode, Principal Superintend- 
ent of Convicts. 

"P. Palmer, Rural Dean." 



TESTIMONIES CONCERNING CONVICTS. 273 



TESTIMONIES CONCERNING CONVICTS BROUGHT OUT BY THE 



No. 4. — Extract from His Excellency' 's Certificate. 

* * * "It is truly pleasing to contemplate the 
gratifying results of his exertions for the reformation of the 
convicts placed under his charge; the peculiar excellency of 
the system of moral and religious education adopted on board, 
as set forth in his Journal, having been strongly evidenced in 
the general demeanour of the prisoners on landing. 

(Signed) " Geo. Arthur." 

No. 5. — Extract referring also to the men by the ii Elphin- 
stone" 

* * * "I cannot avoid availing myself of this 
opportunity to draw the attention of His Majesty ; s Govern- 
ment to the very able system of education pursued by Dr. 
Browning during the voyage. His firm but conciliatory 
manner has ensured for him the respect of the convicts; and 
his unwearied exertions for their moral and religious improve- 
ment have called forth such evidence in their conduct, of their 
gratitude and esteem, as is almost incredible. 

"Whilst on the voyage, men and boys were taught to read ? 
and were so far instructed in the Scriptures as to be able to 
answer satisfactorily on any essential doctrine of the Chris- 
tian religion. * * * 

" Captain Adams,* of His Majesty's 28th regiment, who 

* Nothing could be more gratifying than the spirit and bearing of 
this officer during the whole of the voyage. Not only did Captain 
Adams scrupulously guard against all interference with me, as the 
naval-officer in charge of (he convicts, but he ever gave his most cordial 
co-operation. The discipline of the soldiers under his command, and 
their general conduct during the passage, were admirable. 



274 THE CONVICT SHIP. 

commanded the guard on board the Elphinttone ) has assured 
me, that such was Dr. Browning's influence over the convicts, 
that during the whole voyage there was not a dispute amongst 
them; and they appeared to dread nothing so much as giving 
offence to their surgeon-superintendent. 

******* 

(Signed) " Geo. Arthur." 

It may here be added, that when the Lieutenant Go- 
vernor, Sir John Franklin, addressed the prisoners debarked 
from the Earl Grey, in the presence of a number of the colo- 
nial officers, His Excellency made frequent allusions to the 
superior conduct of the men who had been transported in the 
ElpMmtonc in 1836. 



275 



LESSONS AND SERMONS READ ON BOARD THE EARL GREY. 



Lord's Day. 


LESSONS. SERMONS.* 


Sept. 25 . 


Ez. xxxiii. 
Matt. i. 18—25, ii. 


Serm. i. vol. i. 
Text. Ps. Ii. 5. 


Oct. 2 . . 


Gen. i. 
Luke i. 


Serm. ii. vol. i. 
John iii. 16. 


Oct. 9 . . 


Gen. ii. 
Luke ii. 


Serm. iii. vol. i. 
Hebr. ii. 3. 


Oct. 16 . 


Gen. iii. 
Luke iii. 


Serm. iv. vol. i. 
Acts xvi. 30. 


Oct. 23 . 


Gen. iv. 
Luke iv. 


Serm. v. vol. i. 
1 Tim. i. 15. 


Oct. 30 . 


Gen. vi. 
Luke v. 


Serm. vi. vol. i. 
Hebr. vii. 25. 


Nov. 6 


Gen. vii. 
Luke vi. 


Serm. i. vol. ii. 
Is. lxiv. 6. 


Nov. 13 . 


Gen. vii. 
Mat. xxv. 


Serm. ix. vol. i. 
Isa. lxiv. 6. 


Nov. 20 . 


Gen. ix. 
2 Peter iii. 


Serm. xii. vol. i. 
2 Cor. v. 10. 


Nov. 27 . 


Isa. i. 
John xix. 


Serm. ii. vol. ii. 
Ephes. v. 14. 


Dec. 4 


Exodus xii. 
Acts ii. 


Serm. iii. vol. ii. 
Matt. xxii. 5. 


Dec. 11 . 


Exodus xiv. 
Acts iii. 


Serm. iii. vol. iv. 
Zech. ix. 12. 


Dec. 18 . 


Deut. iv. 
Acts iv. 


Serm. vii. vol. i. 
Gal. v. 24. 


Christmas day- 


Proper Lessons. 


Serm. ii. vol. i. 
John iii. 16. 


Jan. 1 . . 


Isa. liii. 
Luke xxiv. 


An Address. 


Jan. 8. 


Deut. iii. 
Acts ix. 


Serm. x. vol. i. 
Phil. iv. 5. 


Jan. 15 


Isa. Ii. 
Matt. xiii. 


Serm. viii. vol. i. 
Titus ii. 11, 12. 



From "Cottage Sermons," by the Rev. C. Davy, 4 vols. 






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